The MXC Story
by Rhilian
Summary: Marines from Second Company are sent to investigate why an exploratory colonial marine vessel has not kept command up to date with its status. They soon find they are the succulent prey of two nightmarish creatures...
1. Chapter 1

The MXC Story

_Author's note: This is a story to show my appreciation to those loyal and fun-loving members of MXC clan. This story is completely made up using particular species from the Alien vs. Predator Universe. The characters are people that exist in real life and a fair majority of them are in the clan MXC or CMA. Here's a story that involves them in their favourite species in a situation that makes fiction so very loved. _

_From MXC Clan Leader Rhilian._

_p.s. For fictionpress stories please visit: .com/~rhilian_

Chapter One: Our Military are sell-outs...

As usual Pioneer-Seven were late with their monthly report, you'd expect a ship of over one hundred and sixty-three to be dying to stay in contact with their home planet but this was the eighth time this particular vessel failed to get their current status back within the designated timeframe. Usually they were five or so days late however this time they were a whole two weeks and still no reply... This time command had to act and swiftly. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation were funding these military exploratory operations and if things didn't go smoother than a baby's butt the plug on the whole operation and the vast amount of funds coming in could be pulled. That wasn't something command could afford to let happen.

In a demonstration of their seriousness in this situation they sent six minor-sized shuttlecraft with variously skilled squads within. One such team was alpha squad of Second Company led by First Gunnery Sergeant and Sniper Expert Rhilian Cullin closely followed by a special ops recon sergeant that goes by the alias of Tim. The four grunts of alpha squad were 1st class Pvt. Webcke, Pvt. Adrian Dar, Lance Corporal Leary that often went by the nickname Meatloaf and finally Pvt. (self called) Crusty kickass. A popular thing within the Colonial Marines were to create alias so that particular rebel forces on random habitable planets could not discover their family ties and use them to get an advantage over them.

The shuttles were equipped with standard hibernation pods to prevent excessive aging processes affecting the marines while they sent them on the six month journey to 1) investigate the lack of communication between Pioneer seven and Earth and 2) Replace the captain of the vessel with VIP Yurtsin – A highly respected yet posh man who had obvious connections in high places. The mission was not expected to be difficult, the presence of marines was more to add intimidation value to any unruly crewmen of Pioneer Seven. Though as previous occasions have shown, anything could happen therefore the more marines sent the better and that explained the sending of five well respected squads of Second Company.

It was clear as the marine's boarded their designated vessels that they were annoyed especially the grunts of each squad.

"Seriously why do they send us? This is a fucking escort mission Rhil. If I wanted to escort rich pompous arse holes I'd sign up at a male brothel," Webcke grunted in dissatisfaction.

"Do those even exist?" Adrian piped up somewhat bemused. Webcke turned to him and scowled.

"And... we have to take on these greenthumbs! I beat you this one doesn't even know which way the bullets come out of a pulse." Webcke continued scratching his head. Tim laughed for a brief second.

"So you'd rather we'd head into a real fucked up situation than an escort mission with these... greenthumbs?" he stated before strapping himself in. Webcke took a seat on the opposite side of him.

"No I mean I'd rather get out there and do some good with some decent..." he started before Meatloaf collapsed in a seat next to him.

"Shut up Web. The younger they are the more likely they can't drink yet... more for us," he said eyeing the overhead stores. Rhilian whipped around in a flash to eye Meatloaf carefully.

"What? Oh come on... you really think I'm going to smuggle alcohol onboard a second time?" he said with a smirk.

"Last time I had to take the hit for that Leary. Don't bring that shit on the crafts especially with the newbies. I dunno... pretend they're your kids or something," Rhilian said with a resigned expression.

"Ha! Fuck that if I knocked some bitch up I'd tell her to drink from the beginning. That'd stop the cunts from ever being born in the first place," he said matter-of-factly. Tim and Webcke laughed out loud leaving Rhilian with a small smirk and the two younger members utterly confused.

The conversation abruptly stopped as the computer registered everyone in their designated seats.

"Please stay in your seats for the time indicated on the overhead timer while we leave orbit. The stasis pods will be available for use in two hours. Have a nice day and keep building better worlds," a feminine computer voice echoed through the hull of the shuttle. Webcke snorted.

"Building better worlds? Fuck our military are sell outs." Tim laughed and nodded his head.

"Yeah I'd agree with that. But meh... Money rules this universe, what can you do?" he said with a grin. Again before they had a chance to continue the feminine computerized voice came on.

"Incoming call from the emergency channel – please be ready for communications," it said before the sound of muffled noises suddenly filled the hull.

"Ah hello?" Rhilian said before a long dull pause. Suddenly the silence was interrupted.

"Oh yeah. Could I get a double quarter pounder with fries and coke for the drink?" A familiar voice sounded out.

"Oh and a Mcflurry!" Another voice cried out happily. Rhilian held back a smile.

"Does Smashington know you two are using the emergency communications channel?" he said cheerfully.

"Yes Rhilian I do..." The familiar voice of Staff Sergeant Smashington (again another alias) said sounding very resigned. "They gave me a squad full of hooligans I tell you!" he said again with the sound of partying in the background.

"Come on Smash buddy! Malice and Jackson aren't nearly as bad me and Meatloaf," Webcke cried out joyfully. There was a distant "challenge accepted" coming from what sounded like Malice. "Ah well buddy. You went and got yourself promoted. Now you have to deal with your own squad." Webcke added with a wider grin. "I'm sure you'll do fine mate."

There were continual noises coming from Bravo squad's call which all sounded like a party was going down.

"Oh Smash ol' buddy. How's the beers?" Meatloaf piped up with a devious grin. Rhilian shot him a look. "Hey, you told me I couldn't bring alcohol on this craft... Smash's craft doesn't count!" Meatloaf added defensively. Tim was holding his sides at this point at the risk he may explode outwards.

"Oh god! How... I... Oh... how did you get this many in here?" Smash stuttered upon opening several over head lockers. Again more noises filled the background in forms of "yoink" and the familiar sounds of cans being opened.

"Cheer's Meaty. We'll make sure we leave you some," the voice of Jackson rung out.

"You'd better!" Meatloaf said sternly.

"How are the young'ins?" Rhilian interrupted with interest.

"Oh that Martyrairé fella is feeling a little wee bit ill from the launch. Jaze and Silbern are sorting 'em out," Smash said proudly.

"There now you're getting it. Get the young'ins to do the work while you just chill out," Rhilian said with a laugh.

"I knew it!"cried out Tim with a grin

Time flew by while the two shuttlecrafts communicated with each other and with each passing minute both squads seemed more like partying college students rather than trained marines.

"Where is this Yurtsin fella?" Tim asked suddenly with the same expression one gets when they remember they locked their keys in their car.

"Charlie squad's shuttle was equipped with an extra stasis pod for transporting him," Rhilian answered slightly bemused at Tim's expression.

"Oh... oh man. He is not going to like that. He gets to deal with those three crazies," he said smiling at the thought of it.

"Who?" Webcke piped up with interested.

"That's freefall and punisher's squad. Them and Lokamatoka get on like a house on fire," Tim explained still grinning.

"Ha... once again. Fuck that," Webcke yelled with a loud laugh. "Wait, who's the rest of them?" There was a pause as Rhilian and Tim tried to remember the new recruits that joined Charlie squad.

"Oh right that Falcon guy, Whitewolf and Time2Win if I remember rightly," Tim said feeling the triumph of being quicker than Rhilian.

"They seemed pretty cool. They drink at least. May challenge them to see who can drink more," Meatloaf said smiling at the thought of it. Rhilian ignored it. Talking to Meatloaf about these matters was like talking to a drunk brick wall. Several years ago on the grenade training course Meatloaf appeared while completely intoxicated. Before the drill sergeant could do anything Meatloaf fired off a few grenades from the tube attached to the pulse rifle. One shot was a little to close and almost blew him up. He spent three days recuperating from it while nurses and doctors tried desperately to pry away any alcohol he managed to smuggle in. Nearly grenading yourself has since been called 'doing a Meatloaf.' Rhilian was hoping something like that would never happen on an actual mission – they were a long way from any hospitals.

The partying died down as everyone noticed the timer above the six stasis pod finally reach zero. As expected the female voice sounded once more.

"Please remove your straps and carefully make your way to the hibernation pods. Thank you for your cooperation." Webcke grumbled as he undid the seatbelt.

"This is bullcrap. They need to invent a warp drive or some shit. I'm sick of going in these freezing things," he grunted while stepping into one of them.

"Here here. Last time I got out of one my beer was completely frozen over. Made a great popsicle though," Meatloaf cooed as he also stepped inside one of them. Everyone had taken their positions within the stasis pods.

"Is this a bad time to say I'm hungry?" Adrian queried with a smirk. Crusty turned to Rhilian with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah I second that... can I bring in some chips or something from the stores," he said almost tasting the chips already. Rhilian smiled.

"Good night gentlemen," and with that the six stasis pod doors closed over top of each marine instantly freezing them for their long journey.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Simulation didn't cover this...

Delta squad was recently assembled from either the surviving members of other squads that had fallen into traps or the like, or completely new members. Before entering hibernation all crewmen will silent and gloomy. They had experienced things that no person should have to. The leader of this squad was Freon. A man sound with chemical knowledge – once upon a time he said his name comprised of some of the most deadliest elements like chlorine and fluoride, just like he was as a person - deadly... but these days he was stony faced and silent. Previous members of delta squad had fallen into a rebel ambush. Three of his men were killed, one was irreversibly damaged and the last one survived but left the military as soon as possible. The rebels tortured him for hours using primitive yet effective methods. He didn't yield any of their answers but he assumed his squad did that's why they were killed while he was left alive. Before they had a chance to kill him other marine squads surprised attacked the rebel hideout and rescued him and his remaining marines. He held himself responsible for something any leader could have fallen into.

His squad comprised of Corporal Nocturnal, the night owl of the company. For some reason he required very little sleep compared to the rest of the troops. He was once part of Echo squad before another fateful event left him the sole survivor. He was an experienced pulse-rifle expert and shotgunner. After his squad were killed he managed to make an escape from the scene before rebel forces could catch him. Another two members were Pvt. Amberjinx and First Pvt. Taytay. Both female additions to the squad and both relatively new to the military. They had completed their training and trials with first class honours, although both had little to no knowledge of real combat situations. Coupled with Freon and Nocturnal's extensive knowledge command had hoped the girls would gain some valuable skills. Finally the last member was called Logic. He was a highly intelligent man that knew the quirkiest and most random things. He was also signed over from the special ops meaning his history like Tim from Alpha squad was something of a mystery.

Slowly the stasis pods jerked open realising a pulse-like wave of crystallised air and moisture into the open hull. The marines took several seconds before stirring from their icy slumber.

"Everyone out and start on your routine exercises," the booming voice of Freon ordered as he arose without pause.

"Bang bang," Logic said intertwined with a yawn. The girls arose with a stretch, also yawning.

"Are we here now?" Taytay asked crackling her shoulders backwards.

"We're an hour out. Enough time to stretch your muscles. Get to it," Freon ordered while grabbing several weights. The crew started doing as they were told. Soon they all felt like they were back at boot camp doing chin ups, press ups, barbell and dumbbell work and the like. Time flew quickly by as their shuttle neared the enormous colonial marine ship called Pioneer Seven.

"Warning, warning, error in docking routine seven-two-six, please contact administrator," the female computer voice said breaking everyone out of their exercise routine. "Collision imminent, please manually divert course, collision imminent."

Freon leapt to the front and typed in an override code bringing the shuttle to a complete stop. He noticed out the tinted windows the other shuttle craft had done the same. In the distance behind the enormous vessel sat a green and blue planet with a similar resemblance to Earth. Before Freon could think on it a call sounded in from the emergency call.

"Is this thing broadcasting? Hello?" The familiar voice of Rhilian rung out.

"We hear you Rhil," Smashington's voice chimed in.

"Aye Rhil, we got ya," Freefall's voice followed.

"Delta has you," Freon announced.

"Echo here, reading you loud and clear," Echo's leader Morbose said confidently. There was a brief pause before Rhilian continued.

"Seems we have a malfunction in the equipment or something. I'm reading Lifesupport systems in Pioneer Seven are a no-go," he said slightly confused.

"It's not just you, I've reading that as well," Smashington said suddenly.

"Bugger... this leaves us mildly fucked," Rhilian said bluntly.

"Hold up. We were meant to refuel and get specialist weapons from Pioneer Seven," Freon interjected with a frown.

"Fuck... Good point. If no one's home we don't have enough fuel to get back," Rhilian explained with worry clearly present.

"That planet looks habitable, perhaps they built a temporary encampment there," Morbose said hopefully. There was a slight pause before some shuffling in the background of one of the shuttles.

"Wait up now. Let's just go in this big ass motherfucker of a ship and get stuff from there. If no one's home we cut open an entrance," Webcke said gruffly, obviously annoyed at the situation.

"If I may interject here... that ship contains platinum alloy on its outer hull. Nothing on this ship is going to penetrate it. I advise we investigate the planet surface below for possible solutions," A posh and very articulate voice said calmly.

"Who's that?" Smashington queried with interest.

"Mr. G Yurtsin Staff Sergeant," Yurtsin replied sharply.

There was not much of a debate as to where they should go from here, the planet seemed like the only possible option given the current circumstances.

"Alright everyone, I'm reading electrical circuitry on the planet's surface," Smashington said slightly surprised.

"Excellent that's our current route then. Everyone set a navigation to any clearings around the area. Good luck gentlemen," Rhilian said before signing off. Freon moved over computer looking somewhat disgruntled.

"Sir we have no specialist weapons on board," Amberjinx stated somewhat discouraged.

"I'm aware of that. You have your pulse, your pistol and your knife... That'll tied us over for the moment," Freon replied before moving away from the computer. "Ladies... Gentlemen take your seats and strap in. This may get bumpy," He added before lowering himself down into the nearest seat.

"Oh maaaan. They did not cover this in simulation!" Logic growled as the ship started rocking violently. Several circuits connecting to the lights sparked violently making the girls shrink back and gasp.

"Nothing out of the usual girls. Stay tight," Nocturnal explained soothingly.

A stream of heat filled the hull as they entered the very outside of the atmosphere making everyone except Freon and Nocturnal uncomfortable. Freon in fact looked mildly bored as the ship rocked backwards and forwards vigorously.

"Oh sweet Jesus. You ever been on one of those fearfall things at amusement parks?" Amberjinx cried out as her face swung backwards and forwards from the intense shaking.

"Yeah?" Taytay answered whilst closing her eyes and trying to hold her breathe.

"Yeah... I never liked those rides," Amberjinx shrieked. Logic managed a smile.

"Only twelve shuttles out of four hundred and sixty two space shuttles have ever burnt up due to malfunctions in the atmosphere..." he said hoping to inspire confidence.

"Not helping!" Taytay cried out holding her legs.

Suddenly the rocking and shaking abruptly stopped and was replaced by what could only be described as smoothness.

"See? We're through the worst part. We'll be on sweet, sweet ground soon," Logic said smiling at the thought of it.

"Oh... there is a god," Amberjinx said, running her hands through her long hair. Taytay started giggling uncontrollably.

"What's up?" Nocturnal asked in wonder.

"I don't know. I... I just can't stop laughing," She replied with tears running down her cheeks.

"You're hysterical... That's better than my first entry... I threw up," Nocturnal said with a smile.

"Approaching destination in approximately five minutes. We hope you enjoyed your flight," the computerized voice said in almost a mocking manner.

"Little bitch... If I had my pistol on hand!" Amberjinx threatened at what she construed as an overly smug motherboard.

Before long the shuttle craft's engines slowed and mechanical noises from beneath hull sprung to life. Three long metal landing pads stretched out awaiting contact with the grassy ground below. After a fairly relaxing landing the shuttle gave one last noise similar to a bottle of coke being opened.

"Alright get your packs and your weapons, we need to secure a quarter click parameter near that compound. Soon as those doors open you get to it," Freon ordered whilst grabbing a pulse rifle.

"What the fuck?" Taytay said suddenly at opening one of the over head compartments. "Behind my pack are a bunch of... Fosters?" she finalised, absolutely confused. Freon shook his head in frustration.

"I'll talk to Rhilian about this..." he said before pressing the door release button.

"It's not his fault Fr... sir," Amber started before getting cut off.

"I was meaning one of the people under your boyfriend's command. And I said I want a parameter secured. Go," he roared gruffly.

"Yes Sir!" she cried out before leaping out into the glare of the sun.

The planet's surface was covered in lush vegetation and songs from alien bird species rang throughout the area. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The long grass where their shuttle had landed was at knee length and waved softly in the light breeze.

"This is beautiful," Taytay commented with awe in her eyes.

"It so is... Can you imagine? Earth was once like this," Amber said with the sun glistening in her eyes.

"Approximately one million two hundred thousand years ago to be exact," Logic said also entranced by the beauty of the place.

"We should get moving," Nocturnal stated as he marched onwards with his pulse rifle at the ready. Freon was several paces ahead of all of them kneeling down.

"Found something Sarge?" Logic queried with interest.

"Footprint. Something reptilian and big enough to be a possible threat. Keep your eyes peeled," he said before straightening. With that he marched onwards.

"Oh hot damn. The beastie that left this is about our size. Fair warning, komodo dragons on Earth had poisonous bites. Something to keep in mind maybe?" Logic said before following Nocturnal and Freon onwards.

As they reached one of the compound wall's entranceways Freon's communicator went off.

"Freon here," he said shortly.

"This is Rhil, we're all in position. Seems like these guys were here a while. They've made a fairly sophisticated fortress here," Rhilian explained sounding slightly unsure. "From the descent in it looked like there was a central courtyard. Meet up with us there," He ordered before signing off.

"You heard the man, move," Freon bellowed causing each member of his squad to change their gait to a sprint. "Weapon on, safety's off," he added while gathering speed. The outer wires of the walls looked electrified which was oddly intriguing to the marines. Why did they need electrified fences? Were they keeping something out?

The compound looked fairly well organised although strangely quiet for a Colonial Marine temporary settlement. Oddly enough all the lights in the surrounding area were destroyed which they noted as they passed. Perhaps they overloaded their circuits with an electrical pulse. After running around a few corners they found what looked like a suitable entrance into the actual compound. Again the light atop the entranceway was shattered by apparent brute force.

"That's odd sir," Logic said trying to slow down.

"Noted... keep moving," Freon said continuing to move swiftly.

The inside of the compound at first seemed normal until they started bypassing rooms and offices. Several had upturned desks and glass scattered all over the floors. Some had broken vents which was most bizarre. This time Freon slowed to look around.

"What the..." he started before picking up a broken piece of glass from the ground. One side of it bore red blood while the other side seemed to have some greenish substance. It trickled off onto the floor and immediately began to sizzle.

"The fuck?" Taytay gasped in surprise.

"These guys have been messing with some weird chemicals. Flashlights people," Freon ordered clicking his own one on.

They pressed outwards before coming to a complete stop at hearing what sounded like a high pitched animalistic shriek. Everyone except Logic pointed their flashlights in its direction. Logic however kept his flashlight transfixed on one point on the far wall where there was a clearly undamaged ventilation grate. He jumped back in fright as something dark ran past making similar sounds as rats do in walls. Everyone turned to face what logic was staring at. Some of them managed to just get what looked like a black tail disappear from view.

"You... you guys see that," Logic stuttered while squeezing his pulse rifle hard. "You guys saw that right!" he yelled in mild fear.

"I saw something... what was it?" Nocturnal queried keeping his rifle pointed dead on the grating entrance.

"Fuck... I don't know. It was a dog... or a really fucking big cat," he cried out mortified.

"I don't like our current strategic position. Keep moving to the courtyard, stay close and keep those eyes peeled," Freon ordered before continuing much slower this time.

It didn't take long after navigating a few more corridors to reach the central courtyard. Exotic flowers and other vegetation greeted them as they secure the parameter. The other squads arrived very shortly after each wielding their powerful pulse rifles.

"Guess who found some specialist weaponry," Punisher said with a smirk whilst flopping a large bag from his shoulder to the ground.

"Squad leaders... we need to talk," Freon said seriously.

"Yes we do," Smashington agreed. The squad members all rummaged through the bag of specialist weapons while the squad leaders went to the corner to discuss recent happenings.

"Shit's gone down gentlemen..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Yautja hunt for glory...

It was their time... Something every young Yautja male trains for and looks forward to. The hunt to bring them honour and glory for their family's name. Each of their father's had been on numerous hunts against the serpents eventually each one died in what can only be considered glory and greatness. Now it was their turn to uphold the family honour. Each were equipped with armour rivalling each of their fathers. By the end of the hunt they hoped to have hundreds of markings scarred upon the surface of their helms to symbolise each kill. They were ready and they were eager. Their first true hunt, their first step to immortality.

The largest of the young predators stepped forward eagerly awaiting his weapons and one of his father's trophy's to be bestowed upon him. He was given the smart disc, the plasma cannon, the wire net and the usual collection of six mines. The trophy was of a human skull still bearing the helm upon its feeble head. In primitive scrawls, the helm read Clayinator, a warrior of the human species who had clearly fallen to this predator's father. The skull crushed into place on the right shoulder of this Yautja opposite the resting place of the plasma cannon.

The nimblest and quickest of the young predators followed suit by stepping forward, ready to accept the gift of his father. He was given a plasma cannon, a combi-stick, a smart disc and the usual six mines. Another human skull was lowered onto the spike on this Yautja's right shoulder. The primitive human scrawls read Jacky. One of the many human assassins slain by this young Yautja's father.

The wisest and most cunning of the three young bloods stepped forward ready to accept the gift of his father. He was given the bluish dissolver used as both clean up and as a weapon – an acid more potent than the serpent's life blood. He was also given a plasma caster, a smart disc and the usual 6 plasma mines. Once more a human skull bearing the colonial marine helm was lowered onto his right shoulder. The writing read dangles, a possible tactician of the human race.

Each let out roars of triumph to let their peers and family know that they were ready to show how skilled they were. Their technologically advanced pods uncloaked themselves as the mighty metallic doors opened way for their access. Each paused outside their pods while the crowd of casually dressed Yautja watched in awe. The three young bloods nodded to each other respectfully before stepping inside their designating transportation. This was their chance to show every Yautja out there they were no mere hunters... They were predators, they were gods.

The flight to the planet was quick and painless. The Yautja had spent millennia traversing the stars and no other species had shown such promising technology in such things. The Yautja were advanced and proud. Surely no one in this universe could stand up to their might. The pods paused upon noticing the presence of an immensely large human ship maintaining orbit around the planet that would act as the future hunting ground. Something was amiss here. Humans should not know of this sanctuary. This was a Yautja planet claimed rightfully by their people for the sole purpose of hunts. This was more than trespassing this was a challenge... A challenge the Yautja young-bloods would take more than seriously. Their blades would run red with human blood and serpent acid. Despite this abominable act by these human, the young-bloods knew they would enjoy hunting every single last one of them down.

The three pods hovered above the planet's surface for several minutes evaluating the situation. Five human shuttle crafts were scatter around a... human structure! This was profligacy on its highest level. To be in their land was one thing. To build on it as if it were theirs meant war. Another much larger shuttle was present further off but it looked in bad shape as if it had crashed onto the planet's surface rather than landed gracefully. The pods suddenly cloaked revealing nothing but rippling waves of etherealness. Each decided their chosen landing grounds and each knew from this point on... they were alone.

Like shooting stars plummeting from heaven, three glowing lights appeared in the sky before disappearing completely. One disappeared into a lush overgrown forest; one disappeared behind a mountainous range and another land dead smack in the middle of a pond. Then all fall silent as if nothing had ever just breached the planet's atmosphere. Odd animal cries cawed in the distance after the moment of silence as if warning the surroundings that the owners had arrived and weren't happy with uninvited guests.

The Yautja bearing the Jacky marine skull emerged from the pod that landed within the forest. Immediately both the pod and the young blood turned on their cloak. It stared carefully out at its surroundings. The eye sockets of the Yautja's helm gleamed as it modified its vision. The first illuminated wandering insects, totally ignorant to the young-blood's presence. The second illuminating heat waves from warm-blooded creatures within the forest. Distant bird-like creatures were seen as easily as though they were in front of the Jacky Yautja. The final vision appeared to illuminate nothing until at the very bottom of the canopy partially buried by fallen leaf litter was a skin, the shed skin of a drone belonging to the serpent creatures. They were here somewhere clearly... now just to find them.

The Yautja bearing the Clayinator skull also emerged from its pod on the rocky plain ridges far to the north of the human structure. It also scanned its surroundings hoping to discover prey immediately. It knew the serpents have an attraction to the darkness, and the long-winding caves present here would make excellent homes for them. This young-blood was eager to kill. He thirsted for the opportunity to come across a lone warrior, something he could sink his wrist-blades into. He paused briefly with his serpent vision on to spy a cave with moving illuminated targets. He licked his mandibles in an almost delighted fashion. He'd get his kills and he'd enjoy it thoroughly.

The final Yautja Dangles emerged wet yet eager from his pod. He was extremely happy with where he landed though he suspected his peers would think differently. This pond was deep and chilling... A place the human swine would never inspect for their kind of technology. Keeping that from them was priority number one, the hunt came next. In front of him lay open plains straight past a human shuttle craft and further still the compound. To his left large emergent trees part of the forest, a potential place to hunt drones searching for hosts to infect. To his right lay cavernous outpoints and rocky ridges, great places to find warriors and maybe even a praetorian. But he did not find any of those choices acceptable. The path forward to the humans seemed much more appealing. Humans after all think for themselves... What's more satisfying than killing a creature with its own soul, its own mind?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Echo, echo...

Morbose could tell this situation was getting bizarre with every passing minute and with his experience bizarre meant bad. After talking to with the four other squad leaders he knew it was only time before an engagement with potential enemies came to pass. He led the five grunts: Pvt. Freebe, Corporal Cowkiller, First Pvt. Acekid, Pvt. Aussiekanga, and Pvt. Trevinator. Each used a variety of specialist weaponry like the powerful smartgun or the flamer. Morbose himself preferred the pulse though... A weapon that fires out a steady stream of explosive rounds seemed more than adequate for any encounter.

Members of the five squads all pointed their guns at each entrance into the courtyard while the leaders finished discussing potential plans of action.

"Men... ladies. Gather round," Rhilian ordered flinging a sniper rifle onto his shoulder. "The marines from Pioneer seven don't seem to be home here either and by the looks of it when they were they encountered something hostile," he explained.

"Yeah maaan, it was one of those fucking big dogs!" Logic cried out looking around the courtyard careful.

"A what?" Smashington asked completely bewildered.

"A dog?" Crusty whispered over the confused 'huhs' and 'whats.'

"Upon entering this facility logic and a few of my troops saw something in the gratings. I didn't make it out myself however,' Freon explained.

"It was a big black fucker. It moved like lightning," Logic stated squeezing his pulse tighter at the thought of it.

"Well whatever it is we need to keep an eye out. The plan of action is to split up and follow your squad leader's orders closely. Look for anyone alive or log entries as to what may have happened here," Rhilian finalised. "Alpha let's move out"

The squads each took a separate exit out of the courtyard. For a supposedly temporary shelter, this place was hugely sophisticated and looked more like a permanent settlement. Echo squad took one of the darker corridors out of the courtyard.

"I don't like this Sarge," Freebe whimpered holding a flamethrower threateningly.

"Me either bud. Stay close, let me go first," Morbose said with a forced smile. He'd keep every member in this squad safe... even if it meant the death of him. He knew the taboo that came with being in Echo squad. Excusing the survivor Nocturnal nearly every Echo squad since the introduction of space travel has been wiped out. Since his promotion Morbose promised himself he'd never let that happen to the men under his command.

With Morbose leading the investigation, Echo's members followed closely behind with each of their weapons at the ready.

"Sarge..." Cowkiller whispered slightly scared. "There's something in the walls." Morbose stopped to investigate Cowkiller's claims. There were indeed some noises resonating from behind the piping.

"Lads stay away from the gratings. If there is some big black demon in there, let the bastard come to us on our terms." Morbose ordered eyeing one of the upcoming gratings clearly.

"Fuck sarge. I don't like it here man. Let's get somewhere more open," Acekid suggested holding his pulse, loaded to the brim with grenades, out.

"Yeah Sarge. These walls are fucking creeping me out," Trevinator butted in looking around, eyeing every nook and cranny.

"Sorry lads. We have our orders. Stay frosty," Morbose resigned before moving forward.

The first room they came to looked like a bomb had hit it. Paperwork and furniture lay scattered all over the place. Though this time it had a standard issue pistol laying uselessly on the ground surrounded by congealed blobs of sickly dark red blood.

"That confirms it. Shit went down," Aussiekanga whispered, slightly grossed out by the amount of it. Morbose leant down and followed the trial of blood. It pooled the most in one area before appearing to be smeared in the direction of the grating.

"Oh fuck this. There's a body in the ventilation system!" Freebe cried out in horror.

"Looks like it. Cover my six gentlemen. I need to have a look," Morbose said calmly. Quickly he detached the flashlight from his shoulder to use it in his hand. Large long weapons like the pulse or shotgun were hard to manoeuvre in the tight spacing within the grating so Morbose withdrew his pistol. "Someone grab my legs... if I start screaming... pull," he added with a gulp. The squad looked at each other uncomfortably as their leader stuck his head into the open vent.

"Ss... sir. What about bringing it to our terms?" Aussiekanga stuttered in worry.

"We need to investigate Aussie. Sometimes that puts us in shit positions," and with that Morbose positioned himself further inside with only his legs sticking out.

"Damn... it's dark in here," he whispered sounding unsure. "Hold up... I see something."

"Oh fuck man. I don't like this at all!" Acekid yelled out.

"Ergh... it's a fucking foot," Morbose bellowed in disgust. Quickly he grabbed the severed limb and brought it out with him.

"Aww god damn it, that's nasty," Cowkiller exclaimed shrinking back from it.

"Looks slightly decomposed Sarge. It's been in there a week or more," Aussiekanga stated whilst inspecting the open wound.

The squad moved away from the walls and placed the severed foot on one of the damaged tables in the centre of the room.

"It's a clean slice Sir. Whatever did this was sharp," Aussiekanga explained pointing his torch directly on the bloodiest bit.

"Hmmm whatever did this may still be around. Keep your eyes open and scream if you have to. I want to know if anything comes near us," Morbose ordered sternly.

"Yes Sir!" his squad cried out uniformly.

Slowly they moved in a confined cluster towards the door carrying the severed foot with them. There was nothing else important in this room so they decided to move on.

"Man I've been taking fucking sunlight for granted," Trevinator whispered as they moved into more darkness.

"I've been taking a leak for granted," Freebe added with a grim expression, while keeping his legs close together. No doubt every one of them could go for toilet break at this point. There's nothing like a terrifying situation to make your bladder loose. Soon they rounded another corner to see another opening into a room. Again it looked like a scuffle had occurred due to upturned desks and shredded paperwork strewn all over the floor, however this time there was a dully-lit computer monitor looking relatively unscathed on the ground.

As they approached it more noises sounded throughout walls making the atmosphere even more unnerving.

"Damn this shit. I just want to fucking annihilate the things making those noises," Acekid grumbled holding his pulse rifle out threateningly.

"Here, here," Freebe concurred pointing his flamer in the direction of the closest grating.

"Cow, can you get this back online?" Morbose asked the most technologically aspiring member of the group. Cowkiller stepped forward and examined the undamaged monitor carefully.

"It's still connected to the system but it's got no power. I can send some minuscule flow from my torch battery but it won't last long and it'll drain my light," Cowkiller said bending over the piece of electrical equipment.

"Do it," Morbose concluded.

"One computer coming right up," Cowkiller added with a weak grin.

After a few minutes of tampering the computer screen lit up and gave a welcoming 'bing' somehow soothing the situation.

"Ok, just need to access the log information," Cowkiller whispered clicking miscellaneous buttons and moving the mouse all over the place. "Ah here we are. They're not encrypted thank Christ," he added whilst wiping his forehead. The first log entry sprung onto the screen causing all the members of the squad to look down and read with interest.

_27/07/2105_

_Oh thank god. We have power finally. I didn't think they'd ever get those blasted generators to work. We've finally established a self-sufficient encampment on this planet while we conduct the experiments. The xenomorphs showed explicit interest in our arrival but the electrical fences have been keeping them at bay. I haven't the faintest clue as to why the Weyland-Yutani corporation are interested in the beasts. They're just another dumb animal on a backwater planet. Seems like they're getting desperate to find something worth while out here. There doesn't appear to be any unnatural structures present on the planet's surface so ultimately in my opinion this whole excursions. _

_The marine leader Tyranus and his lackeys are being kept in the dark about what we're doing here. He's already lost some of his men to the xeno's. He's been in a fucking foul mood ever since. I am keeping away from him after I found out he threatened to blow the captain's head off for the loses his company has suffered. _

Morbose looked over the log twice with earnest interest. Clearly there was more to Pioneer Seven's mission than was originally let on.

"Cow, see if you can get up some of the latest entries," he asked.

"Coming up boss," Cowkiller replied before another log entry came up.

_05/08/2105_

_Oh god. I don't have much time left. I'm going to try get to the shuttle crash site after this final entry. I understand Weyland-Yutani's interest in these things now. They're incredibly intelligent possibly more so than us. They've breached the encampment and are making their way further in using the ventilation systems. The death toll is immensely high... but I'm still alive. I'm alive... that's what counts right? I'm too valuable for Weyland-Yutani to abandon me. Surely they'll come to rescue me. In the meantime Tyranus's marines are keeping the xeno's at bay. I'm going to make a run for it! _

Again there was a pause as the members read to the bottom of the log entry. Before they had a chance to read anymore the computer monitor flickered a few times then went completely dead.

"Think that's all we're going to get from it sir," Cowkiller stated with a grim expression.

"Right... A shuttle crash site? I think we need to regroup in the courtyard with the other squads," Morbose said looking at the door.

"Oh now that sounds like a brilliant idea," Trevinator said with a relieved sigh.

Slowly they made their way towards the courtyard making sure to keep an eye on every grating they passed. Cowkiller's light putted out half way through due to it's completely drained battery. Cow fall back behind the squad slightly as he tried to get it working. Acekid was little more than a metre in front of him when something tripped him up. Acekid didn't notice as a large blackened creature emerged from a dislodged floor grating to look down on the petrified Cowkiller. The poor marine tried to scream but nothing came out. His heart thudded heavily within his chest as the creature battered the pulse rifle from his hands. It opened its mouth to reveal a smaller jawed tongue-like thing inside. Cow managed a final scream as the creature pulled him down into the grating. Echo squad whipped around in time to see a pale hand disappear down the hole in the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: No time for jokesters

Charlie squad got the call to head back to the courtyard. They hadn't really found anything worthwhile in the search of the compound other than hearing continuous scratching noises coming from behind the walls. VIP Yurtsin followed the slightly unruly squad around like an obedient puppy. Both his hands were placed behind his back as he walked around with a slightly creepy yet calm smile.

"Fucker! I found that gun bag! You took the bloody credit for it dick!" Lokamatoka cried out angrily in the direction of Punisher.

"Life's not fair is it Mexican?" Punisher replied with a smug grin.

"You bastard!" Lokamatoka roared out as he leapt forward tackling the grinning marine to the ground. Time2Win, Falcon and Whitewolf walked past the scuffling two to hear what Freefall had to say.

"Looks like one of the other squads found something..." Freefall started before Punisher flopped onto his feet as Lokamatoka delivered more punches. "Fuck sake you two. Ergh, I think one of the other squads found something worthwhile. Let's get back and see what's happening." He concluded stepping over the wrestling marines.

"He started it!" Lokamatoka cried out.

"Your argument is invalid sir. You're Mexican!" Punisher concluded with a puffy bruised smile. That resulted in one quick fist to his left eye which immediately blackened up.

Falcon paused to investigate some nearby piping line the walls. Several distant scratches could be heard and it was starting to become rather annoying.

"Come on... What the hell is making that noise?" he said tapping his gun against it. Several tings echoed down the pipeline. Lokamatoka and Punisher arose from the ground brushing broken glass and shredded paper from their uniform.

"Man I could for a beer right now," Lokamatoka said crackling his neck around.

"Oh same. We should hit Meatloaf up," Punisher stated rubbing the back of his head.

"Sweet," Lokamatoka agreed giving Punisher a pat on the back. Time2win and falcon looked at each either with raised eyebrows.

"Those two have one fucked up relationship," Time2win said looking utterly confused.

"Yeah I second that," Falcon said turning back to the pipe expressing interest in the noises again. "I tell you by the end of this I'm going to find out what's making those noises," he added before turning to follow the rest of the squad out the room.

They hadn't actually gotten far from the courtyard when the call came in so it wasn't surprising when they arrived none of the other squads were there yet.

"Ha, we won!" Punisher cried out as he collapsed on one of the cushiony looking plants. Turns out beneath it were several naturally occurring wooden spikes similar to thorns. Punisher yelped as he shot upwards grabbing his butt cheeks.

"Oh what the fuck, why don't we have armour on our butts? That's bullshit," he growled rubbing the offending area.

"What? I would have thought you were used to pointy things in your arse by now," Freefall commented with a smirk.

"Oh haha Freefall, very mature," Punisher responded grumpily. "Fuck man... It went in deep," he said looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Take a stim then," Whitewolf said bluntly.

"Stim... my arse..." Punisher said looking bland. "Go stim your... um... your brain!" Punisher reciprocated feeling mildly proud.

"Right..." Whitewolf said raising an eye brow.

Lokamatoka pulled out his sniper to look through one of the closed doors on the opposite side of the courtyard. Freefall and Punisher walked over to see what he was doing.

"Holy shit! You can look through things with that scope!" Punisher said incredulously.

'Nah Dah... You've never used one before?" Lokamatoka said still focusing on the far door.

'Oh dude seriously you have to give me it for a sec. I've just had a genius moment," Punisher whispered looking extremely excited.

"Jesus... what's up with you?" Freefall queried looking slightly alarmed.

"Just trust me, this'll be worth it," Punisher said with a wide smile.

Several minutes passed by while Charlie waited for the other squads to arrive. Punisher, Lokamatoka and Freefall sat looking mischievous as Delta squad walked in. In a flash Punisher whipped out the Sniper and focussed the scope on Taytay and Amberjinx as they entered. All three marines started drooling as the girls swayed their way over.

"Awww slowly ladies, give us a turn," Lokamatoka whispered with wide eyes.

"What are you guys doi..." Taytay started before her eyes widened. Instinctively her and Amberjinx put their hands over their female bits.

"Argh you fucking creeps," she cried out in horror. Amberjinx looked mortified at realising snipers could see through things very well. Who knows how much these filthy men saw! Both girls stormed up brandishing the back end of their pulse rifles.

"Aw come on girls... Don't be hater... Ooaf" Punisher started while standing up before Taytay delivered a swift blow from the butt of the pulse rifle into his groin. He yelped higher than a prepubescent boy and fell flat onto the ground. Amberjinx withdrew her combat knife threateningly.

"You do anything like that again and I'll take your manhood way permanently," she cried out angrily. Freefall backed away slowly with wide eyes.

"Loka always wanted to be a eunuch," he said before running to hide behind Whitewolf.

Before anything else could be done the other squads all arrived on the scene however humour was no longer in the atmosphere. Something had happened and that something was clearly bad.

"He's fucking gone man!" Freebe cried out with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Who, what?" Malice asked suddenly alarmed.

"There's something in this compound and it took Cowkiller," Morbose puffed looking at a loss.

"What do you mean took him Morbose?" Rhilian said stepping forward, his sniper still flung over his shoulder.

"Something fucking grabbed him and pulled him into a hole!" Acekid yelled angrily. In a fit of rage he shot randomly into the sky.

"Whoa, whoa, settle down soldier," Tim said calmly with sympathy clear on his face. He walked over and placed a friendly hand on Acekid's shoulder.

"What happened exactly?" Smashington piped up again looking deeply worried. Morbose took a big breath then exhaled.

"We found a severed foot of one of the people from Pioneer Seven, shortly afterwards we discovered a computer with log entries..." Morbose started

"That Cow got working!" Freebe burst out with a fresh wave of tears.

"Yeah... Uh... then we were on our way back... then..." Morbose said before pausing to allow himself to swallow. "Then we turned around to see him disappear down a hole... down the hole screaming," Morbose finalised with subtle tears rolling down his cheeks.

There was a gloomy silence as every squad attempted to try wrap their heads around this daunting situation.

"We found out there's a crash site where possible survivors are holding out," Aussiekanga said grimly. Rhilian collapsed on a comfortable looking patch on the ground.

"Fuck sake," he growled angrily. "Okay look. Delta, Echo, Charlie I want you all to head towards that crash site. See if you can find any survivors, that's our primary mission... Alpha and Bravo will stay here and see if we can recover Cowkiller," he finalised looking unsure and extremely unhappy. Tim looked over at Rhilian and indicated that he come over. Rhilian calmly moved to him while everyone's heads were bowed sadly.

"Maybe we should... you know have a little break with everyone here. Moral's looking a little low mate. It couldn't hurt," Tim advised feeling the gloom of the room surrounding him.

"Yeah... perhaps your right," Rhilian said frowning. "Alright people, we'll have thirty here then move out," he added with a grim saddened expression.

All the marines found a comfortable patch and mixed around making little groups here and there.

"Fuck me, I never expected this shit could ever happen aye? It's like some surreal horror," Jaze whispered to a few marine's sitting near him.

"I get what you mean bro... I fully didn't really even expect to see anyone die while I was in the corp," Malice said sadly, "how fucking stupid is that?" There was an eerily silence that followed.

"Here mate," Meatloaf said passing Malice and a few others a round of beer he miraculously gotten from somewhere.

"To Cowkiller," Falcon said lifting his can

"To Cowkiller!" The room roared.

In another small group Whitewolf and Tim were sitting next to each other attempting to enjoy the beer given to them by Meatloaf.

"Don't think we've met bro, call me Whitewolf," Whitewolf said holding out his hand.

"Oh yeah I think I've seen you around back at the training camp on Earth," Tim said thinking on it.

"What's your name?" White asked to make conversation

"Aww, well some people call me Tim?" Tim said with a weak smile. Whitewolf let out a few barely noticeable chuckles. Given the situation it was likely to be a while before any of these marines smiled or laughed again. Rhilian and Smashington walked over and took a seat next to the pair. Each gave each other weak smiles to try ease the mood.

Soon each started talking about home and life outside the military, something rarely seen within the marine corp.

"I'm originally from South Africa but lived mostly in New Zealand," Rhilian said quietly

"Represent!" Malice yelled from over the other side of the room. "Yeah I'm a New Zealander too," Smashington said thinking on it "I miss it really." White wolf nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah I'm a kiwi too, North shore for the win" he said with a bleak smile. Tim managed a genuine smile.

"Guess it's my turn. Well at the risk of being different, I'm an Aussie," he said rubbing his forehead. "I can't wait to get home. This was meant to be my last mission." He added slowly losing the weakened smile. "My girl's waiting for me back home, I got her a ring and everything. My beautiful Jessica," he concluded with a renewed smile at the thought of it.

"Dude that is really cool, I'm really happy for you," Rhilian said with a genuine smile. "Oh yeah and I'm your best man," Rhilian added with a smirk.

"Count on it," Tim added and patted the Alpha leader on the back.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: They mostly come at night... Mostly

Smashington was not new to combat, he'd seen over twenty six missions while in the service of Alpha squad. Given his heroic actions in saving Webcke and Rhilian's lives from a rebel militia ambush, command decided he showed not only enough prowess and skills, but good enough leadership to direct his own squad. There was something about this current mission that unnerved him more than all the others, they weren't facing humans. From Logic and Echo squad's descriptions they were fighting some kind of black sneaky creature. He had yet to decide whether this was a good or bad thing. Humans have guns and ambush tactics while apparently these were just animals. Fast animals for sure, but was that enough to stand up against a pulse rifle bullet? Then again these things were still a complete mystery to all of them, who knows what these things had up their sleeves.

The scattered groups across the courtyard were still clearly mourning over the death over their comrade. Smashington found it mildly disturbing the amount of grief present, sure he was saddened by what had happened but this was the marine corp... Just suck it up and move on. They were there for a reason and crying over a death was extremely unproductive. Then again most of the marines on this mission were greenthumbs, death was something they would get used to... just like the veterans of each squad. Two members of his squad were relatively experienced but they also seemed to be practical jokers, Malice and Jackson had been in Bravo squad a fair while. Their previous leader retired after their last mission and three more members were transferred for third company. They were happy with the new additions of Smashington, Jaze, Martyraire and Silbern seemed like decent people and relatively skilled in the various weapon types. There was one thing Jackson and Malice decided they had to do during this mission though, and that was to be an absolute pain to Smashington whenever possible. They weren't doing it out of spite or hatred, but rather as a form of initiation as the new leader of Bravo. Though currently the situation didn't call for it, both members had never even experienced death before, enemies or their own.

The last few minutes of the break slowly drew to an end making everyone finish off the last of their beers.

"Stay safe guys," Jackson said stretching his arms out as everyone got to their feet.

"Make sure to stay together, we don't want any separating horror movie shit guys," Rhilian announced as he watched Charlie, Delta and Echo conglomerate. "Radio in if you find anything as well," he added before turning to face Bravo and Alpha squad members.

"Catch you gents," Malice waved as the three squads started to walk out the door.

"Hold on," Amberjinx cried before running up to Rhilian. She gave him a light peck before whispering in his left ear

"Stay safe hun," Rhilian smiled and kissed her forehead

"You too," he said quietly before watching her run off to catch up with the others.

The courtyard suddenly went deathly quiet as the two remaining squads stood at ease waiting for Rhilian's commands.

"Well you know the situation as well as I," Rhilian started looking dead serious. "Cowkiller has been dragged off somewhere and personally I want to get him back," he added. Everyone yelled out a 'Hooah!' to express their agreement. "I understand we can cover more ground if we separate, but I'm also not an idiot... We're not going to put ourselves in the perfect situation to be picked off. Alpha and Bravo will move together and stay together unless I say so," he concluded.

"Sounds good," Meatloaf agreed whilst crushing a fosters can in his hand.

"Where the fuck do you keep getting those?" Jackson queried with interest.

"A magician never reveals his..." Meatloaf started before releasing a loud belch, "...tricks" he finished with a smile. Smashington rolled his eyes.

After the brief prep talk the merged squads moved towards the entrance that Echo originally took. There was an instant eerily feeling in the air as the darkness overtook every one of them.

"Lights on," Tim suggested, switching his own one on. A barrage of flashlights illuminated the passageway as they marched onwards with weapons pointed left, right and centre.

"I could go for a beer," Meatloaf moaned realising it had been a whole two minutes since he finished the last one.

"Oh god, I could go for pancakes right now," Tim replied with his mouth almost watering.

"Cool story bro," Malice said with a smirk.

"Come on guys, keep your eyes peeled," Rhilian ordered, slightly annoyed.

Soon enough they came to the moved grating which revealed an under floor ventilation system.

"Guess this is it," Jaze whispered looking sickened at the thought of someone being forced down there.

"Move aside gentlemen, let's take a look," Webcke said confidently as he lay flat on the ground ready to slide inside.

"Oh fuck no Web, don't be an idiot," Tim cried out mortified at the thought of another marine disappearing into the darkness.

"I don't know about you ladies... But I got over being scared of the dark when I was ten," Webcke said with a smirk. "Just hold onto my legs, I won't be long."

The group of marines stood around looking slightly worried and awkward as Webcke slid down into the hole with Crusty and Adrian holding his legs making sure gravity didn't make him disappear as well.

"Oh this isn't good guys," Webcke started.

"What do you see bro?" Malice queried pointing his pulse rifle at the hole.

"There's blood down here. Human blood," Webcke said sounding resigned.

"Alright man come on up," Rhilian advised looking slightly worried

"Hold up, looks like the ventilation follows this passageway, if we follow it we may find a bigger entrance somewhere," Webcke stated as Crusty and Adrian pulled him up.

"Egh, he's heavy," Adrian whispered to Crusty.

"Yeah I hear that," Crusty whispered back with an expression of extreme strain. When they pulled him up his eyes narrowed on the two.

"Don't make me push you both down there," he threatened menacing.

The two squads started moving again following the passageway forward, they rounded several more corners. Everywhere they looked it appeared as though a garbage truck had dumped all of its contents.

"Don't get too far ahead of us guys," Smashington warned as Malice and Jackson strode slightly faster than the rest.

"With any luck they'll see those two's faces and scary away the beastie," Silbern said happily.

"You sir..." Malice started, "...are an idiot," he add shortly after.

"And Canadian," Jackson reminded,

"I thought I said that?" Malice said looking confused. Silbern managed a laugh while the two brofisted.

"Dick," Silbern replied with a grin.

"Jew," Malice speedily replied.

"I thought that was Rhilian?" Silbern queried,

"Ah yes... Retard-Fornicator!" Malice corrected.

"Still Rhilian," Silbern said.

"Bugger, well..." Malice started before Rhilian slapped the back of both of their heads.

"Concentrate."

Before long they came to a large metallic door with an exit sign above it. Everyone paused with their weapons at the ready.

"One, two, three!" Tim whispered before Meatloaf smashed the door open with his boot.

"Fuck yeah!" he roared as if defeating a mighty enemy.

"Dude settle... it was a door," Webcke said with a raised eyebrow. The squads marched through the door into gleaming sunlight. Everyone's eyes squinted and some of them raised their hands to shield their faces from the glare. Quickly they secured a parameter as Rhilian went to inspect one of the ventilation shafts leading into the compound.

"There's blood here too Rhil," Tim said grimly noticing significantly more blood coming out of the grating.

"Fuck it, I'm not liking his chances," Jackson grumbled with a frown clearly present.

"There's more blood here Sarge," Adrian piped up from several paces away. Several members of the squad walked over to see another much larger hole going straight into the ground.

"What's that stuff?" Crusty queried looking at the strange gooey walls of the hole. Webcke bent over and swiped the side of it with his finger. A long stringy length of goo stuck to it as he pulled it away.

"Dude that's gross," Martyraire commented looking clearly disgusted.

"Yeah, ergh," Webcke agreed as he wiped it on Meatloaf's trousers.

"Aww you cunt!" Meatloaf roared angrily.

Everyone stood uncomfortably above the hole for some time trying to decide what should be the next plan of action.

"Oh shit, look at that," Adrian cried out suddenly pointing in the direction of the edge of the compound. Sitting there were two largish power generators still looking in working order.

"Oh brilliant," Smashington said looking happier. Before they had time to move towards it something black launched out of the slimy hole and latched onto Malice's legs. He shrieked in absolute terror which actually matched the pitch of the creature grabbing at him. Instinctively Malice kicked as hard as he could. His boot collided heavily with the front of the creature's head making it recoil back in surprise. Jackson and Jaze grabbed onto his arms and pulled him back away from harm. The rest of the squad opened fire in the direction of the hole once his legs were clear. The creature let out a horrid cry as it quickly disappeared from view down the hole.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Malice screamed with his heart pumping hard, "It tried to eat me!" Everyone looked at each other with worry clearly present.

"What the hell... that didn't look like a dog. It looked like a fucking mechanical black skeleton with a penis for a head," Silbern said with his gun still pointing in the direction of the hole.

A renewed depressing atmosphere befall the group as they realised that if that was the creature that took Cowkiller there was zero hope for him surviving the encounter.

"Shit, I don't want to seem like the bearer of fucking bad news... but there is no way Cow is still alive," Webcke announced looking grim.

"I'd hate to agree with Web, but I don't see much chance of him being still with us," Tim said sadly. Rhilian sighed and wiped his forehead.

"Alright guys let's see if we can get these generators working," he said sounding hugely resigned. Slowly the two squads made their way over to the generators whilst keeping their eyes on the hole behind them.

The generators themselves seemed undamaged however the electrical cables leading into the compound were slashed. Silbern and Jaze walked up to the closest of the damage and eyed it carefully.

"No doubt one of those things did this. There's claw marks here," Jaze commented as he carefully inspected it.

"Is it repairable?" Smashington queried looking at it hopefully.

"Yeah but may take a little while eh. All the wires are here they're just not connected anymore," Silbern stated whilst examining.

"Alright we'll take point, you get onto it," Rhilian decided.

The two started working immediately as they tried to get the cables retied, Adrian had switched the actual generators off while they worked.

"This would go a fuck load quicker if I had some better tools," Jaze said whilst trying to bend the wires into a certain direction.

"You may just get them Jaze, I think I see a maintenance shed just there," Jackson said looking around one of the corners. There was another metallic door that looked relatively worn although with clear scratch marks on it. Meatloaf geared himself up to kick the door down when Webcke got in the way.

"Fuck man, ever hear of using the door handle?" he asked looking overly tired.

"Where's the fun in that?" Meatloaf moaned looking slightly disappointed. Several of the soldiers gathered up behind the door with pulse rifles, shotguns and flamers at the ready. Carefully and slowly Webcke turned the handle then at the last second slammed it open upon hearing it click.

As soon as the door crashed open they heard a loud bang from within, instantly Malice fell backwards clutching his shoulder in agony.

"Man down!" Martyraire cried as knelt down next to the bleeding soldier.

"Fuck me! Do I have a fucking target sign on me or something?" Malice roared in anger still clutching his wound. Inside the maintenance shed was a wreck of a man clutching a pistol. Uselessly he kept pulling at the trigger of his gun pointing towards the intruders however it appeared he had used up all of his ammunition. Meatloaf, Web and Tim launched forward and battered the gun from his hands. Without mercy they grabbed him and pulled him out into the open.

"The Black demon is coming!" he cried out with bloodshot eyes. "It's coming!" Smashington and Rhilian looked at each other worriedly. This man was in deep trauma. He continued to squeeze his forefinger forward as if still clutching his weapon.

"Fucking prick! We're not those things." Jackson growled angrily from next to Malice.

"Hundred... Thousands! They want me too... but I won't go. I won't I tell you," the man cried out trying to pull from away from the marine's strong grips.

"What'd your name? What happened here?" Smashington asked trying to get to reach the man.

"You won't have me!" the man cried out one last time before managing to get one arm free. Quickly he reached into the armour on his chest pulling out a pulse rifle grenade.

"Grenade!" Silbern cried as everyone dived to the ground. Without pause the man slammed the grenade to the ground next to him whilst screaming hysterically.

The resulting explosion tore him to shreds while sending the relatively nearby squad members into the air. Jackson leapt upon Malice to shield him from the blast. Despite some minor bruises and some slight shrapnel cuts on their arms and legs everyone was relatively unhurt.

"Fuck me!" Silbern yelled. "He did a meatloaf!" Meatloaf stared at Silbern loathingly.

"Jesus this shit is getting more intense by the minute, Malice you good?" Tim said brushing his uniform off.

"Oh I've fucking been better Tim," Malice replied angrily. "Chur by the way bro," he added with a brofist to Jackson who risked his own livelihood for his comrade.

"Any time," Jackson replied also brushing his uniform off.

"Here mate, take a stim," Adrian suggested as he passed the wounded soldier one of his own stims.

"Chur," Malice replied as he stabbed the syringe above the wound. Within seconds the miraculous healing liquid sped up the regeneration of Malice's wound and after two minutes a neat little scar was all the remained.

The two squads paused for a minute as they checked themselves in case for holes or wounds. In the middle of the big ring the squads had made were the mangled remains of the once insane man.

"Retarded psycho," Webcke grumbled as he marched over to the maintenance shed. "Let's get these fucking tools and get this shit sorted," he added. Jaze and Silbern went in with Webcke to pick the most suitable tools for the job while Tim and Smashington looked around inside as well to see if there were any possessions of the suicidal man that could give further clues of what was going on. Unfortunately all that was present was the stench of pee and faeces on the metal floor.

"He must've been out here for a week or so. No wonder he went fricken nuts," Crusty commented looking slightly horrified.

Soon Jaze and Silbern got to work on fixing the cables while the rest of them formed a protective parameter around them.

"I fucking nearly got eaten... then I got shot, then I nearly blew up," Malice growled as he stood watch next to Jackson.

"Sounds like thanks giving dinner with my family," Jackson said with a weak smirk.

"Touche salesmen," Malice laughed. It did not take long at all with both Silbern and Jaze working on the cable repairs, after several minutes they concluded that they were finished. Malice given he was the most beaten up was given the privilege to switch the generators back on.

"It's alive!" he cried out joyfully as the compound hummed revealing several undamaged lights and computer monitors in the windows.

"Alright guys, Cow was a no go, let's get inside and see if we can find some more information about what they were doing here," Rhilian said looking in the direction of the entrance they had come out of. Jaze and Silbern kept the maintenance tools with them in case they were needed elsewhere.

Quickly the two squads marched towards the entrance with their weapons at the ready. The corridors were much more relaxing to traverse given the extra light compared to the pitch black and feeble torch light last time.

"Alright see if you can find any working monitors guys but stick close," Rhilian ordered as they moved up the corridor.

"In here," Tim said happily as he noticed a bright monitor light coming in from one of the rooms. Quickly he walked in through the doors. Before anyone had a chance to follow him inside the power to the compound went off again. The large metallic sliding door separating the corridor to the room slammed shut blocking Tim off from the rest of them.

"Fuck!" Meatloaf yelled as the door smacked him backwards into Martyraire's arms.

"Hold on Tim, we'll go check what's up with the generator," Rhilian yelled worriedly.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Tim yelled back.

As fast as they could Silbern, Rhilian, Smashington, Jaze and Adrian ran back to the generators while the others stayed back to comfort the isolated soldier.

"Oh shit!" Silbern cried out upon seeing the state of the generators. This time instead of the cables being cut the actually generators were fuming from a wide scorched hole.

"What the fuck did this?" Jaze queried angrily.

"Blast of some kind. Guys we can't repair this. These generators are fucked," Silbern stated looking surprised. "We'll have to cut through that door to Tim," he added. As the few started running back towards the entrance a flying Frisbee looking object came out of nowhere. Its edges were serrated and looked meant for slicing through objects. Rhilian yelled out a warning as suddenly started following them as if it had a mind of its own. Without stopping the thing sliced into the very edge of Smashington's torso making him yell out in pain. Silbern and Rhilian grabbed either side of him and pushed through the metallic door. Jaze just managed to shut the door as the disc came around for another time. They all heard a distant aggravated roar as the disc slammed into the door and stuck there.

The slice on Smashington's side looked severe as blood freely oozed out and dripped to the floor. Rhilian pulled out one of his stims and stabbed it just above the wound. Just like with Malice's wound, it immediately started to heal.

"Goddamn," Smashington said woozily as the other two tried to keep him standing.

"Let's get back to Tim," Rhilian said as they marched as fast as they could with the injured soldier. The corridor was completely dark once more meaning they needed to use their flashlights a second time.

"What the fuck was that?" Adrian cried out looking terrified.

"Just keep moving, we need to get Tim then get the fuck out of here," Rhilian cried a response as they neared the other members of the squads.

They were greeted with confused and worried expressions as the others saw Rhilian and Silbern dragging the wounded Smashington.

"What happened to you guys?" Webcke asked looking worried.

"No time, get that fucking door open!" Rhilian bellowed as he lowered Smashington to the ground. "Give me some water," he added with a growl. Quickly Jackson threw over a bottle that was attached to his belt.

"Come on Smash stay hydrated," Rhilian whispered as he slowly poured the water into his mouth. Everyone watched with worried expressions as Silbern and Jaze got to work on the door.

The door wouldn't budge and Tim knew clearly it'd take twenty minutes or so to cut through. The sound of igniting gadgets on the other side where his squad awaited came quickly and eased his tense nerves. Before he had time to make himself relax he heard soft pattering against the tile floors ahead. Instantly he whipped around holding out his trusty shotgun. Carefully he scanned his surroundings for movement. Lifeless computer monitors obscured his vision from the darkest part of the room. His vision slowly became used to the surrounding darkness. This time he noticed a small scaly beige tail disappear behind one of the dusty desks in front of him. He held his breath, somehow that made him feel safer, somehow being quiet just seemed right. Slowly he withdrew his combat knife from his protective chest piece before sliding the shotgun down his back.

'Little fucker... your going down,' he thought to himself. One thing Colonial Marines knew worked well... pump yourself up before any engagement. Talk shit, belittle the enemy - anything.

Slowly he crept up towards the abandoned desk in front of him. All fell silent once more as he neared... as a cricket falls silent upon a human discovering its call. The hissing of the stubborn door behind him grew suddenly as thermal tools were used to melt open an entry way. Mildly startled Tim looked at the door then back at the desk. To his horror a little hand-like creature rested atop it seemingly staring at him. Its wiggling tail pulsated mesmerizingly as it quivered in what could be construed as anticipation. Tim's subtle gasp was enough to set it out. In a flash the little beast leapt directly towards Tim's unprotected face shrieking. Tim instinctively closed his eyes and leant back while holding the knife out in front of him. The shrieking from the creature stopped abruptly as it collided perfectly onto the sharp knife's point. Sizzling transparent green blood ejected from the open wound in the creature and landed all over Tim's face.

From the other side of the door Meatloaf, Rhilian and Webcke looked at each other worryingly as Tim's gurgling screams of "I can't see!" were cut short by what could almost be considered as someone placing a pillow over a screaming man's face.

"Fuck this!" Meatloaf roared as he kicked at the door angrily. With one powerful blow and the combined effort of the blow torches the door bent open slightly. Meatloaf proceeded to deliver another few kicks until a big enough opening for the marines was there. Quickly Webcke and Martyraire leapt through the small entrance to discover Tim lying on the ground with two odd looking hand-like creatures lying motionless next to him. One was skewered on his knife with the other just looked dead somehow.

"Help me get him through," Web yelled as the Martyraire grabbed the unconscious marine's legs. Carefully they hulked him through the small entrance Meatloaf's mighty boot had made. Before Martyraire was through something latched onto the back of his head. Instinctively he screamed out as he jumped through the small hole in the door.

"What the fuck is that!" Jackson cried out upon seeing the weird hand-like creature trying to suckle the back of Martyraire head.

"Is it eating my brain!" he cried out in terror trying to pull it off. It took three marines using their full strength to wrench the little beast loose. Instinctively Meatloaf threw it onto the ground and aimed his shotgun at it.

"Boom headshot!" he yelled as he spattered the creature with a double barrel pump of his weapon.

Far in the distance in the direction of the exit to the generators they heard the metallic door smash open.

"Grab Tim! We're getting out of here," Rhilian yelled out. Meatloaf quickly tossed Tim onto his shoulder and followed the group run down the corridor towards the courtyard. Smashington was supported by Webcke and Silbern as they quickly made their way towards the only familiar part of the compound. Within seconds they were out of the gloomy corridors and in the open courtyard.

"Which way out?" Webcke yelled out looking at all the passageways that stemmed from it.

"This way!" Malice cried out as he head in the direction that he remembered the other three squads went.

"Get to that crashed shuttlecraft... this compound is a death trap," Rhilian yelled out as they all bolted through the small exit.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Dangerous Prey

The predator bearing the Dangles skull was infuriated. He never expected the humans to show such teamwork and love for one another. His smart disc clearly severed one of the human's abdomens and should have been a satisfactory kill yet instead of abandoning their maimed companion they took him with. He'd either have to kill everyone in the group or pick them off one by one when they strayed too far from their companions.

The Yautja bent over and wrenched the smart disc from the collapsed metal door with disgust. Blood from the human still clung to the disc. He breathed heavily trying to memorize the scent of this particular man. His skull was rightful property of the Yautja now and he'd stop at nothing to get it. Carefully he scanned his surrounding environment again before strutting into the entrance of the compound. The humans would be nearby hopefully and death would find them quickly.

Quickly yet carefully the predator marched through the corridor inspecting each room and crevice for mainly humans and perhaps the odd serpent. As he was carefully inspected each room he noticed one particular door looked damaged. He quickly recoiled in surprise upon noticing his large foot had stepped in the middle of the remains of one of the serpents infectors. The humans had made swift work of it. Fortunately the corrosive blood of the creature was long gone sparing the Yautja's foot of any agony.

A barely discernable noise behind the Yautja startled him. Quickly he twisted around holding his wrist blades up as protection. Just as he turned around a large warrior of the serpents lashed out at him sending him to the ground. It clawed viciously at the downed predator hoping to land a debilitating blow. The predator growled in annoyance as he kicked at the creature. The blunt blow collided with the serpent's upper chest sending it reeling backwards. The Dangles predator emerged to its feet and extended its wrist blades once more whilst eyeing the offensive creature in a disgruntled fashion.

The serpent lashed forward once more with its right claw. This time the Yautja was ready for it. It swiftly dodged the blow before rising both its hands up. The extended blades sheered through the creature's right arm making both its claw and middle arm fall to the ground uselessly. Acid blood sizzled away as the serpent backed away in agony and surprise. The Yautja was nowhere near finished with this beastie as it grumpily stomped forward holding its blades out menacingly. This time he went on the offensive making light slashes here and there while the xenomorph attempted back away. Seeing the perfect opportunity the predator made its finishing move as it slashed the side of the creature's head then grabbed its throat. The fatigued creature dangled loosely above the predator as he held it up. It threw pathetic tired attacks at the predator's helm which glanced off easily. In one swift motion the predator threw the alien onto the ground hard then proceeded to deliver one powerful stomp to its neck. The crack of its carapace was deafening as the creature slumped over, clearly dead.

It triumphedly growled into the air upon seeing its victim lying uselessly upon the ground. Swiftly the predator bent over and snapped the forefinger of the serpent. At the same time it removed its helm so that it could mark the first of its victims. It was a proud moment and a kill he would remember for the rest of his time. Without dwelling on it further the Yautja placed its helm back on before disappearing down the corridor in search of more warm-blooded prey.

Meanwhile far to the east in the darkening canopies of the exotic forests, the Jacky Yautja discovered two prowling drones. He recognised their ability to smell threats from nearby distances were unparalleled however he stayed downwind of them at all times. These serpents were much less capable of melee combat than the stronger warriors of the serpents however they were much more nimble and capable of spitting highly corrosive acid. Fighting two at a time would be spectacular to this predator's mind and something he could savour in the form of two trophy symbols upon his helm.

Unobtrusively the Yautja made his way from the top of the emergent trees to get in closer. He eyed them carefully like a lion closes in on a gazelle. Making sure he didn't make too much noise as he descended, he carefully withdrew his sharp combi-stick. The sudden pause of both drones told the Yautja they had finally managed to get a whiff of him. In one swift move the predator leapt in from of them growling menacingly. The drones reared back hissing at the presence of the potential threat. As they unsteadily arose to their hind legs they spat out a bubbling concoction of translucent green liquid. The Yautja leapt aside dodging both sprays with ease. Analysing his speed and nimbleness the drones recognised spitting this target would render very little results. Angrily they hissed and leapt at the speedy Yautja. In a split-second his demeanour changed and he stood firm holding his spear out in front of him. Using his second arm he whacked the first leaping drone with the blunt side of the weapon, then lashed it back sending the back end into the other leaping alien's knee joint. Both drone's screeched in pain as one was pushed backwards while the other's leg was skewered. One drone whipped its tail at the Yautja's legs but to no avail as he calmly leapt over it.

The drone with the badly damaged limb tried to support most of his weight on the other leg as it clawed aggressively at the nimble Yautja. It managed to get a slight scrape across his broad forearm before being slammed into a tree with a swift kick to the side. It slumped over clearly dazed while the other drone frantically battled on. Recognising the defeat of one alien the Yautja spun his spear around to face the last threat. It clawed several times at the Yautja's torso. Each swipe was effectively dodged and returned with a brutal counter generally in the form of a large Yautja fist to the face. This fight did not require wrist blades – this was one of the easiest although still satisfying. The last drone woozily collapsed under the brute strength and repetitive speed of the predator. Disappointed the Jacky Yautja watched as they tried to get to their feet to no avail. His assault was just far too strong and effective. He had enough of toying with these preys and many more awaited. In one swift movement he grabbed both of their tails and speared either one's heads with them before grumpily throwing carcass to the side.

Carefully using the sharp claws of each drone he etched two notches into the centre of his combi-stick. The light scratch on his arm was nothing severe though could prove potentially troublesome. These beasts had exceptional olfactory abilities and with the presence of a light wound smell they could locate him from a fair distance before he even had a chance to monitor them. The best possible option was to singe the wound closed using a melted healing shard. Without pause this is exactly what the predator did. The sizzling liquid flowed freely into light slash mark bubbling slightly as it did so. The Yautja cried out in pain alerting all in the forest of its presence.

After his wound looked singed closed he abandoned his kills to ascend to the tree tops once more. Quickly he flicked through his visions once more to spy potential prey in the distance. He was surprised to see far near the forest's edge a large conglomeration of red blurs. After leaping from tree to tree forward to find out what these presences were he discovered it was a group of humans near one of their destroyed space travel constructs. Given the disappointing performance by both drones, the Yautja decided warm-blooded prey may be much more entertaining... and with that he leapt down from the canopy with his combi-stick at the ready.

Whilst his two companions were hunting their prey in the dank human compound and disgustingly natural environment of trees, the Clayinator Yautja was marching right up to a cave clearly showing serpent activity. His strength was nothing short of astounding, he doubted these acidic little serpents could stand up to his might. He did not care for the wind patterns or sounds from the ground. He did not have time to waste on foolish clues, he knew where his prey were and he was going to collect as many kills as he could before his hunt was finished.

He did not falter or slow down as two menacing warriors of the serpent species arose from the darkness of the cave. Each let out ghastly hisses of warning as the intruder stormed forward with admirable bravery. The closing pace of this Yautja was enough to set the serpents off as they both leapt forward simultaneously revealing the smaller mouths behind their perfectly straightened teeth. This time the predator did stop as he eyed both victims sympathetically. They reared up in alarm as he suddenly let out a mighty roar before charging towards both of them with his wrist blades extended and ready for killing.

Both xenomorphs met the challenge as they flicked their tails in an aggravated fashion. The first attack came quickly as the Yautja swung his blades at the first alien's head. It ducked down speedily before whipping its tail around to knock the Yautja off guard however this was not what happened. The tail uselessly collided with the Yautja's legs and bounced off like a ball hitting a wall. Behind the technologically advanced mask the predator let out a smile. Quickly he kicked forward pushing one xenomorph back. The second xenomorphs launched at the Yautja managing to get a grasp on his side. The incredibly large predator swung around with the stubborn creature clutching onto his side. Its claws dug in slightly as it tried to weigh the mighty hunter down. Before it had a chance to do any real damage the Yautja managed to get a solid hold of its ridged tail. Using all of his might he pulled the creature off causing mild wounds across his torso and back. Still he did not release the serpent, in a bout of anger he swung it round like a mace before throwing it into the other xenomorph. Both creatures shrieked as they collided mercilessly with each other.

The giant predator paused to inspect the damage before storming forward begrudgingly with his wrist blades thirsting for the kill. The recovering xenomorphs got to their feet ready for another assault. They barely had time to react as the Yautja reached for their tails but missed by half an inch. He was impressed, they were resilient and this was proving to be a most enjoyable fight. Once again they lashed out at him like they had done before however this time the predator expected it. He positioned himself in such a way so that all he had to do was swipe his blades as they pounced. Both alien shrieked as the Yautja pushed both his arms forward skewering them mercilessly. Acidic blood oozed out the wounds onto the Yautja's arms making him recoil in pain. Both serpents collapsed looking very near death. Calmly the mighty Yautja grabbed both their tail near the connecting point to their bodies as was his origin plan. Using all of his strength his raised them into the air and rested them over his shoulders. Before letting out a mighty roar he slammed them both without mercy onto the ground. Loud cracks echoed throughout the entrance of the cave as both alien's skulls burst open at the pure brute force of the collision.

Before he had time to savour his victory something much larger emerged from the darkness of the cave snarling menacingly. The Yautja paused with slightly widened eyes upon witnessing the presence of a real life praetorian of the serpent species emerge with lethal looking claws and an extremely long spiked tail. He wondered for a brief second whether it was strong enough to challenge him adequately. He shrugged. Guess he'd have to find out... and with that the brave mighty Yautja charged forward bellowing its battle cry.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Should have called in sick

The constant skirmishes of the xenomorphs had thinned their numbers from the once glorious battalion. It was demoralising to think of all who had fallen to the seemingly endless numbers of the beasts, but Tyranus and his men were no strangers to combat. They were a stocky bunch bearing hardened battle scars or the occasional limp from bullets wounds or claw tears from horrific creatures. At least for now under the unrelenting glare of their grounded space shuttle, the black monsters were holding back major assaults. The ship's docking lights had been modified by the marine's top technicians to shine brighter than floodlights. For some reason the creatures despised light of any sort especially natural flames.

The marines hideout was nothing overly barricaded or protected. A small camp-sized fire happily crackled away in front of a modest-sized space shuttle that had clearly made an emergency landing. The large indent in the ground and upturned trial signified the landing hadn't been the smoothest and likely damaged any operational technology within. Further behind the crashed shuttle was a screed-encumbered cliff-face. Any creature attempting to ambush them from behind would have a hard time navigating a surface without misplacing a limb on a lose rock. The vast area in front was low lying plains with rock canyons far to the right and forests far to the left.

The hideout was as organised as usual. The leader of the battalion named Tyranus was pacing backwards and forwards plotting a suitable strategy for any further assaults upon them. His trusted lieutenants and close personal friends sat placidly staring with eagle-like vision over the darkening plains. Among these men were Angusdabull, Un4Seen, Exo and Mace. Behind them the hardened soldiers stared out temporary holes in the shuttlecraft. They were Stealth, Akoel, Matt Kaelax, Mudoken, and Malagbaal.

"Getting dark Ty," Mace stated looking at the sun slowly vacating behind the barren cliffs in the distance.

"Check on the battery – switch it if it's below thirty percent," Tyranus ordered before going back to thinking. Angus sat up slightly before stretching and twisting his neck around until two loud cracks were heard.

"Don't forget when you're on lookout guys. Don't want a repeat of last week," he added looking squarely at Mudoken.

"I'm telling you I didn't fall sleep I was resting my eyes!" the marine cried out defensively. Un4seen let out his characteristic laugh.

"Should let your nose get a rest then too... You were snoring worse than Tyranus!" he said smiling. Tyranus barely acknowledged the joking insult while looking into the distance.

"Best get some sleep Ty. You're on midnight duty," Angus added also looking towards the horizon. Tyranus gave an acknowledging gesture before running his hand through his hair.

Odd cries of bizarre creature sounded out from the forest far in the distance. Compared with the loving embrace of Earth, this alien world was eerie and peculiarly haunting. Tyranus could not shake the feeling they were being watched by unseen eyes, something inhuman and malevolent. Before he had the time to dwell on it further he was ripped from his thoughts by the sudden erratic movements of his men behind him. Turning to stare he saw them looking brightly with hope upon their faces. In the distance upon the grassy plains walked over a dozen bold-looking marines bearing unwavering postures and powerful pulse rifles. Tyranus allowed a brief smile before allowing his composure to set back in. Almost like guardian angels the unknown marines marched forward with the remnants of the setting sun glowing behind them. Their silhouetted faces looked expressionless as they neared. Tyranus's men could not contain themselves as they surged forward in excitement. Rescue had come at last!

The first two faces two emerge into the welcoming bright lights of the crashed shuttlecraft were that of Freefall and Punisher. Tyranus strode confidently past his celebrating men to raise a gratifying hand. Freefall took it graciously and gave it a solid shake.

"Master Sergeant Tyranus," Tyranus announced with a friendly nod.

"First Sergeant Freefall of Charlie, this is Sergeant Freon and Gunnery Sergeant Morbose," Freefall greeted.

"We've been waiting for some time, good to see rescues arrived," Angus butted in with a smirk. Punisher and Freefall exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"Sorry to wreck the parade but we're not here as a rescue crew," Punisher said at last. Everyone around them fall silent to watching the three leaders conversing. "We were here to replace Pioneer Seven's captain, refuel then get home again," he stated bluntly. The mood fell dreary once more as smiles faded.

"Do you have ships though? Can't we get home through them?" Mace said hopefully.

"We have them but we've no fuel reserves left. We were relying on Pioneer Seven," Freefall explained with a grim expression. Tyranus's posture fell slightly at the news.

"Well then. Welcome to the party," he sighed as he turned, "follow me, I'll give you a full report."

Freefall, Punisher, Freon and Morbose left their squads to interact with the surviving marines as they followed Tyranus into the wrecked space shuttle.

"We were on an expedition set up by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. To explore new worlds that bisected sector eight in this pattern," Tyranus started as he pointed at a space map indicating where they were. "Upon discovering this world we were ordered to accompany the workers down to the surface and set up a base of operations. After about two years we were all sorted," he explained pulling out more papers and tracing words and pictures with his fingers. "Everything was working out fine for a good while – no casualties or damages until over four months ago. We discovered a chamber down here. Not man-made but definitely not natural either," Tyranus stated with a pause.

"Aliens?" Punisher whispered incredulously. Tyranus nodded then lifted a weary hand to hold his forehead. Dark near-unbearable memories flooded him.

"Within them we found cocoons of some sort but no life other than that. We sent about eight of them up to Pioneer Seven for proper evaluation. Several days later we got a brief distress call from the men stationed there and then this empty vessel crashed here but other than that we got nothing more from them," Tyranus stated holding back the knot in his stomach.

"Take your time Tyranus," Morbose advised feeling the sadness forming as an aura around the surviving man.

"That's when things started happening down here. At first we had mere disappearances of workers and marines alike. Then we started barricading up the compound as odd black creatures started attacking us. Nothing full and direct though. They just picked at us. Like a fuckin' scab. Slowly dislodging us from the compound. The last day we tried to hold out they just came in such force that we couldn't hold out. I had over sixty men at the start of this mission!" He cried out angrily with clenched fists. "Sixty fuckin' men. Only ten and me made it out."

There was a pause as the shock of what the hardened marine had said suck into the four men. Punisher put a sympathetic hand on Tyranus's shoulder. It was quickly battered away as Tyranus reared up to full posture once more.

"We're low on food, we're fuckin' tired and we don't have a clue what's edible on this god-forsaken planet," he roared angrily slamming his fists on the table.

"We have some resources on us," Freon stated calmly "and more of us will make it easier to hunt or gather from the forest." Punisher nodded in agreement as Freefall ran his left hand across his forehead.

"We've got another two squads investigating the compound," Morbose said suddenly.

"Get them out of there!" Tyranus piped up with shock in his eyes. Quickly the men ran out of the shuttle to leap at Freebe. The startled recruit looked at them all tower over him

"Freebe do you have the communicator?" Freon queried in a hasty fashion. In a flash Freebe withdrew the communicator from his pack. The surrounding men watched in interest as Morbose grabbed the communicator and tried to contact Alpha and Bravo.

Several minutes passed as Echo leader tried over and over to get in contact. Eventually he angrily tossed it aside to look over at the horizon in the direction of the compound.

"There's something interfering with it. Something magnetic," Morbose grumbled withdrawing a saved beer from his pack. The surviving marines eyed it almost wolfishly.

"Poor bastards. Haven't even had a beer!" Falcon said looking at their hungry expressions.

"Pity they didn't know Meatloaf," Nocturnal said with a weak smile. A few smirks rised up from the dreary atmosphere.

"So what's the plan now?" Freebe asked looking at the useless communicator. There was another brief pause as the last remnant of natural light finally gave way behind the cliff-face. Malagbaal stood up and stretched from his perched position.

"If this isn't beyond my place... I think we should eat," he calmly suggested. Tyranus nodded glumly in agreement. Soon everyone was pulling off their packs to share around the food they had.

They spent a good half hour eating and talking amongst themselves, trying to lift the dreary atmosphere placed upon them.

"Well this is got to suck for you guys," Mudoken said out loud to the new arrivals. "You get sent on a relatively simple swap mission and you find yourselves in this shithole of a mess."

"Nothing as bad as what you all seem to have gone through," Taytay whispered softly. A distant caw of a hunting creature sounded down from the forest.

"And what are you gona' do Yurtsin? Your Pioneer Seven is well and truly fucked up there," Lokamatoka piped up looking at the calm and collected non-marine of the group. He gave a small almost too polite of a smile.

"I'll do what's needed of me. I guess I'll not be commandeering Pioneer Seven," he said with the smile still suck on his face.

"Good man," Tyranus stated bluntly.

"You're pretty calm for a civilian Yurtsin. Good to have you onboard," Mace said with a gratifying smile.

"Thank you."

Once everyone was fairly well fed and quenched a new lookout schedule was drawn up hastily by Angus. He was almost ecstatic at the presence of new men to fill in absent watch roles. He'd also be able to set up two marines at a time rather than the previous inadequate system of relying on one man at a time. Despite the excitement, dreariness and newness of the situation weariness and fatigue plagued most of the marines. The lookout posts were manned quickly while the other marines made their way into the crashed shuttle. With the sudden increase in their numbers it was a tight squeeze but no one complained. Taytay looked over to Amberjinx with distaste in her expression.

"If I knew I'd be getting sandwiched by men nearly every day when I joined the marines I'd have given it a second thought." Amberjinx smiled a reply.

"Quiet ladies... you know you like it," Punisher piped up with a smile. Taytay's eyes narrowed as she gestured what could only look like a scrotum sac being pulled by fierce feminine hands. With that Punisher fall silent and sleep set in on the fatigued marines.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: I'm not afraid of the dark

Freon sat restlessly near the only entranceway of the shuttlecraft. A warm almost summery breeze rolled in from the darkness. Several unnerved marines tossed about in their sleep fighting off nightmares and unseen ghosts of their past. The dreary atmosphere had allowed gloomy dreams to claim all those who had fallen into a slumber. Freon, however, was too alert to allow sleep to claim him. Nocturnal, as well, looked unscathed by weariness as he sat next to his bold leader. Together they silently listening to the mellow warm wind soothingly whistle outside.

The shuttle interior looked relatively undamaged by the crash landing, although the technology within was clearly no longer operational. Freon went over Tyranus's story in his head. The shuttle crashed to the ground with no bodies inside it, no messages, nothing. Perhaps the shuttle itself was a message to the troops on this planet... to let them know something had gone amiss up there. He dragged himself away from the unproductive thoughts. There was no point dwelling on something that had already happened, especially if it didn't help their current situation.

Whilst mildly enjoying the pleasant silence and warmish breeze, Nocturnal and Freon were ripped from their thoughts by sudden calls from the current watchmen outside. Instinctively both whipped out their pulse rifles and went to see what was causing the commotion. Angus and Acekid were the designated watchmen for this stretch of time. Freon noted as they stood alert staying transfixed on the plains in front of the shuttle. His eyes adjusted to the darkness slowly while the unthreatening clouds above him blocked out starlight. Eventually he noticed what the guards were looking at. Men from Alpha and Bravo squad were slowly making their way towards the shuttle, though by the looks of it two or more of them were wounded.

Without thinking on it further Freon rushed forward followed closely by Nocturnal. The Bravo leader Smashington looked unconscious while he was being dragged by Rhilian and Malice. The recon from Alpha squad, Tim, also looked out-cold. Carefully Nocturnal took the arm of Tim and retired the marine who had helped move him thus far.

"What happened?" Freon asked in shock. Two of the most experienced men he'd known were out-cold although he couldn't exactly see what had caused the damage.

"We'll... We'll explain soon," Rhilian puffed out as he heaved the heavy body of Smashington. The two watchmen jumped down from their posts to give a hand as well.

Most of the light-sleeping marines awoke and leapt out the entrance of the shuttlecraft brandishing their weapons threateningly. Upon realising the cause of all the noise they dropped their guard.

"Jesus Rhilian..." A sleepy looking Morbose said as he placed his pulse rifle on one of the outside tables. Both Tim and Smashington were laid down next to each other on the ground.

"What the fuck's happening here?" Tyranus queried looking rather disgruntled as he emerged from the shuttlecraft.

"Men from Alpha and Bravo, Master Sergeant," Morbose explained as he went to join the forming circle around the two wounded men.

The downed shuttlecraft was brimming with life like a trading post on Earth as the marines walked around and chatted and looked worryingly at the unconscious men.

"You're Sniper Expert Rhilian?" Tyranus asked in his straight forward way.

"Yip, you're one of the surviving marines?" Rhilian replied as he threw his weapon to the ground.

"Yes. Bring Bravo leader, I'll give you a report," Tyranus said rubbing at his sleepy eyes. Rhilian looked sadly at Smashington who had gone fairly pale from the original blood loss.

"There's just me for now," he said quietly. Tyranus realised the inclination and nodded stiffly. Slowly the two disappeared into the shuttlecraft to talk.

Taytay and Amberjinx were looking rather ruffled as they emerged from the shuttlecraft. Amber's eyes almost ignited in happiness upon seeing Rhilian unscathed but she resisted the urge to rush forward. She politely smiled as he strode past her into the shuttle. He weakly returned it.

"Oh Tim... what'd you get yourself into this time," Taytay queried looking sadly over the unconscious marines body.

"Hawt damn," Logic cried out seeing the severed armour Smashington was wearing. "That's nasty." The wound was no longer open due to the powerful work of the stim but a long pale scar had taken its place.

Angus and Acekid resumed their watchful duties on slightly uplifted posts but neither really thought there was any point with the number of marines outside. They doubted whether anyone would be able to get back to sleep given the circumstances. Even the nocturnal animals far in the direction of the forest had fallen silent at the sound of the commotion happening at the shuttlecraft.

"Some weird little hand things attacked Tim," Silbern said sullenly. "Have no clue what hit Smash... some kind of serrated Frisbee." Angus paused slightly at hearing the first part.

"Weird little hand thing? Did it get on your friend's face," he asked suddenly dead serious.

"I... I'm not sure. We just found him like this with these two little hand things next to him," Jaze filled in looking worried. Angus fell silent but his eyes widened in shock. He knew something that the new marines did not. In a flash he whipped out his pistol and went towards Tim's unconscious body.

"What are you doing?" Amber asked looking unnerved by Angus's change in persona.

"He's hived. We have to kill him," the marine said bluntly trying to pull the sympathy from his voice. In a flash ten pulse rifles were whipped up aiming squarely at his head.

Instinctively the surviving marines whipped up their weapons at pointed them at the new comers. It was a standoff where if one bullet was let off the next second would have racked up a death toll nearly as high as that of the compound.

"He's got a fuckin' xenomorph in him. We have to kill him," Angus cried out in frustration.

"And you've got a loud mouth... I may have to kill you," Webcke growled pointing his double-barrelled shotgun at him.

"No seriously guys. If he bursts that thing will let the other xenos know where we are," Un4seen cried out trying to explain reasonably. A few of the newer arriving marines wavered but held their rifles up.

"We can't just kill him. What do you mean he's gona' burst?" Taytay queried with a raised eyebrow. The surviving marines shifted uncomfortably.

"When a facehugger, those hand-like things, gets on your face its lays an egg in you..." Un4seen started.

"Ergh rape..." Malice said in disgust.

"Exactly... and when that egg hatches, the little creature inside bursts through your chest," Un4seen explained with almost watery eyes as if recalling a painful memory.

The situation was quelled quickly when Tyranus and Rhilian re-emerged from the shuttlecraft to witness what was happening.

"Everyone stand down," the two authority figures yelled in unison. There was a silent uncomfortable pause as each man slowly and unsurely lowered their weapons.

"What the fuck has gotten into you lot?" Tyranus yelled angrily looking squarely at Angus.

"One of them is hived sir!" Angus started whilst pointing at Tim. "We've got to..." Tyranus waved calmly stopped Angus's sentence midway.

"Your man has a xeno in him," Tyranus said calmly to Rhilian. Again there was a pause.

"One of those black things? How?" the Alpha leader queried looking shocked.

"Facehugger... hand-like creature," Un4seen said sadly.

"It's your call Rhilian. We won't force it on you," Tyranus said looking slightly uncomfortable.

"But sir..." Angus started with wide eyes. Again he was waved off.

"He's to be left alone," Rhilian said confidently. "In the meantime is there anything we can do? Surgery?" he added searching for hope.

"None... Just keep him comfortable," Matt suddenly piped up with dismay in his expression.

Angus reluctantly went back to his post while the other marines stood around Tim understanding what fate awaited him. The dreary atmosphere descended upon them once more as the excitement faded. Casually many of the marines took seats on the ground around the unconscious bodies.

"I think this calls for another beer round," Jackson said softly looking at Meatloaf. A great number of eyes swivelled towards the bold marine.

"What makes you think I have any left?" he shrugged. Disappointment welled up inside everyone as they diverted their eyes to the ground once more. "Ha! No faith in me. When have you ever known me to be without beer?" he cried out suddenly. Miraculously he started pulling beers out of his pack and Webcke's pack.

"What the fuck? When did you put them in there?" Web asked with astonishment imprinted upon his face. Meatloaf ignored the question and handed the alcohol out to all.

"One day Meaty... One day I'll figure out how you manage this," Jackson said in playful intimidation.

"One day... you'll be sorely disappointed," was the reply he got. A somewhat relaxed mood befell the group as they downed their alcohol quickly. The original surviving marines were surprisingly efficient at handling and downing the beer.

The gloomy atmosphere was still present but it battled relentlessly with the subtle happiness that food, alcohol and good company wrought.

"I only got one thing... Hic... one thing to say to you..." Logic slurred as he tumbled to the side. "You're a fine looking women!" he cried out staring at Punisher. There was an eruption of laughter as the dreary atmosphere was finally defeated back by Logic's words.

"I am seriously saving all my beers for that man," Meatloaf stated with a laugh.

"Logic... you are the best drunk I've ever seen," Lokamatoka announced happily.

"I... Hey... I'm not drunk... I'm just... I," he attempted a sentence before his eyes grew heavy with weariness. "Ok... Maybe I'm a smidgerner tipsy...but... but," he added collapsing to the ground and found sleep easily.

"That man deserves an award!" Malice yelled out happily. There was a sudden eruption of agreement from the group of marines. There was only one who had not joined in on the festivities and that was Yurtsin. He remained composed and clear headed as a majority of the marines drunk themselves into a state of weariness.

"Come on you posh bastard, have a drink!" Webcke yelled out joyously.

"I thank you for the invitation Private but I must decline," Yurtsin said with a courteous smile. "Dirty hippie! Have a drink!" he continued relentlessly.

"I have already stated Private that I find sobriety adequate at this point in time," Yurtsin replied once more with that smile plastered to his face.

"Well... I think you're a douche at this point in time," Webcke finalised before falling into an alcohol induced coma.

"Noted," Yurtsin said quietly.

Soon enough alcohol claimed most of the marines and forced them into a submissive dreamless sleep. At the same time the clouds moved further afield in the sky allowing the much-welcomed starlight to illuminate the entire area around them. Angus, despite clearly intoxicated was still at the watchmen's post. He held his liquor well as he was one of the few that had not submitted to sleep. A sudden soberness came over him as he beheld movement on the plains ahead. He didn't call out in case it was more marines that he wasn't informed about. Soon this thought was thrown aside when he beheld their speed and shape.

"Xenomorphs!" He cried out in terror.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: The Black Demon

Morbose awoke with a start at hearing a hail of pulse bullets erupt from Angus's weapon. He had a headache more painful than he'd ever experienced – the beers Meatloaf smuggled aboard were always more potent than they let on. His mind took several seconds to comprehend the image before him. His vision was unrecognisably blurred as silhouettes of marines ran backwards and forwards. Bullets were all being fired at one direction – the plains. Unsteadily the leader of echo hauled himself to his feet. He stood there motionless for several seconds still trying to comprehend what was doing on. Everything was garbled and blurry.

A lone marine ran up to him and started yelling in what almost seemed a different language. Confusion spread over his face as he tried desperately to steady himself.

"Get your..." the beginning of his sentence was recognisable but the rest seemed some made up drunk language. "Fucksake... Get your wea..." Again it was almost recognisable until the very end. Slowly Morbose wandered to the line of marines firing their weapons relentlessly. On the plains he beheld numerous black blurs zooming towards him and further behind two very large black blurs trudging along.

"Its... fuck... Praeto..." He made out amongst the hail of gun fire. Suddenly something snapped inside his head and his eyes focussed miraculously and he beheld a coming battle of a wave of blackened creatures approaching.

Without hesitation or pause he whipped up his trusty pulse rifle from where he had fallen asleep. It sat graciously in his grip like a coddled baby.

"I'll never leave you again," he promised it. In a flash he was at the front line alongside the other marines who weren't badly comatose from the beers. Lokamatoka and Rhilian fired off accurate sniper rounds each hitting their targets in the dead centre of their round elongated heads. Both burst like water balloons holding sickly green goo. Angus retired his pulse rifle to also whip out a nearby sniper.

The pulse rifle bullets scoured the scene in front of them. Numerous aliens fall in the defensive firing. Several missing back limbs relentlessly pressed on as they dragged themselves using only their forelimbs. Meatloaf the most experienced with handling alcohol was letting off grenades left, right and centre. Several aliens were sent reeling into the air as a nearby grenade blast uplifted them. Several of the faster creatures near the front spat viciously at the marines. Large globules of sizzling green sprayed at the wall of marines. Acekid cried out as some of it splattered mercilessly on his arm. Without pause it sizzled away the top layer of flesh before Mudoken poured water on to wash it aside. The excruciation on Acekid's face was clear. A couple more layers of flesh burnt away and you'd have seen his radius and ulna. The pulse rifle he wielded collapsed uselessly to the ground whilst we withdrew a pistol.

"Eat this!" he cried out in pain and anger.

Freebe raised his flamethrower and sprayed the igniting agent on the ground several paces ahead of where the marines were holding out. As some of the nearer beasts came closer, he sprayed an arch of fire being careful not to hit his comrades.

Instantly the igniting agent erupted up into a fiery blaze. Startled, a few of the smaller beasts reared back unable to stop from their speed. As they slid into the fiery blaze they exploded outwards like a shrapnel bomb. Bits of xenomorph and boiling acid spewed out everywhere. Lokamatoka cried out as some splattered against his cheek. Meatloaf also cursed angrily at feeling his upper chest sizzling away. Both jabbed themselves quickly with stims and continued with their work. The stims battled fiercely with the acid as one tried to heal while the other burned away. The resulting small scar was distorted and ugly.

Slowly the flames on the igniting agent ate away at its fuel and died out to allow passage to the assaulting xenomorphs.

"I'm out!" Freebe cried out before throwing the flamer aside to withdraw a pulse on his back. Aussiekanga realised how close the assaulting creatures were and abandoned his post and pulse rifle to withdraw a more suitable shotgun. Many others followed suit.

"I'll note you!" Webcke suddenly said as he arose from his drunken torpor. Upon realising what was actually happening he jumped up with alacrity, withdrawing his shotgun at the same time. His eyes widened slightly upon seeing the xenomorphs assault.

The xenomorphs at last poured through the open gap to leap ferociously at the retreating marines. Taytay cried out as one slashed viciously at her face. The swipe marks had bored deeply into her. Before the creature could finish the job Punisher leapt forward and smacked the creature to the side with the butt of his gun. As it recovered it beheld the menacing point of a double barrelled shotgun. It didn't even have time to shriek as the top of his body was ripped away by a burst of shotgun shrapnel. Freon fall under the assault of two warriors as they relentlessly clawed at him. He cried out as he covered his face and body with bloodied arms. They leapt past him, as he grew still, to receive a solid shotgun spray from Tyranus's outstretched arm. Both were blown back from the single blast.

The fight turned into anarchy and chaos as more beasts joined the fray. One of which seemed to gleam slightly more so than the rest.

"The Black Demon!" Un4seen cried out upon spotting the creature. It was shaped like the others of its kind yet it was distinct as well. It seemed to glow with an unholy aura. If it were more possible it was slightly more blackened and empty looking than the rest. Without pause it leapt past the group of marines and screeching aliens to deliver a solid tail strike into an unsuspecting Malagbaal. He blurted out a mouthful of blood before falling limply to the ground. Tyranus roared angrily and let off several more shotgun rounds at the darker beast. The tops of the protrusions on the black demon's back were instantly splintered off. It let out a dissatisfied cry before leaping angrily out of sight and range.

Morbose, now with his composure back in check, let out a steady stream of pulse bullets at a leaping alien. It was ripped backwards spraying its greenish blood outwards. He turned just in time to witness another leaping directly at him. He held up his pulse rifle to block his body. The creature collided roughly with it sending jars up Morbose's body. In a quick flash he whipped his pulse rifle back and slammed it into the chest of the near-bipedal creature. It hissed angrily as he was sent reeling to the ground. Without mercy Morbose pumped three solid rounds into its skull before turning to deal with more streaming through. Nocturnal wielded a shotgun in one hand and a pulse in another. In a fierce Rambo style he shot both with deadly accuracy. Several aliens skulls burst open before him. Each shot from the shotgun jarred his arm mercilessly but he did not pause to wince. Crusty and Adrian stood side by side sending bullets off exceptionally accurately into nearby aliens. One alien leapt behind them to deliver a sound blow. In a flash Adrian whipped around to blow both its legs off in one blast. The creature shrieked horridly letting Adrian know his work was done. Quickly he whipped back round to deal with more that were nearing. The creature he had shot however was not finished. Unrelentingly it pulled itself forward and latched onto Crusty's exposed leg. In one swift motion it wrenched him down to the same level. Crusty cried out in horror as the creature crawled on top of him widening its mouth. A smaller jawed mouth within quivered in anticipation. Crusty covered his face in fear with his right arm. In less than a split second the smaller mouth lurched outwards and dug through his wrist stopping just short of his face. Adrian reeled in horror at his downed friend. Without even meaning to he kicked at the creature which attempted to cling to the downed marine. Crusty cried out more and more as the small tongue-like thing remained wedged in his arm. A final kick to the creatures head snapped off the mini-mouth leaving it implanted in his wrist.

The ground started shaking slightly as two of the much larger xenomorphs emerged from the darkness of the plains into the lighted area of the shuttlecraft. They hissed loudly and angrily at the glare of the floodlights. They were around three to four times larger than the rest of the creatures. They had small bullet holes all over their blackened skeletal torsos but they appeared not to have been driven in deep. One poised itself in such a way that it held out its tail like an elongated whip. In one swift motion it circled the battlefield knocking over friend and foe alike. Morbose was the first unlucky victim to be gazed and locked on. Slowly the creature marched forward even as bullets rebounded off its extended cranium. In a swift motion it pulled up the leader of Echo squad. Freebe watched in terror as Morbose tried in futile to break the crushing grip on him. The praetorian raised its other hand to grip Morbose's right leg. He cried out in pure agony as the giant beast pulled. He first heard his knee then femur dislocate, then the tearing of flesh and material. In several prolonged seconds his right leg was torn viciously from his body. Both him and his limb were thrown asunder for another smaller beast to deal with.

Rhilian and Tyranus were trying desperately to deal with the other praetorian as it took long powerful swipes at the marines in front of it. It opened its mouth threateningly at the two who dared oppose it. In a flash Rhilian pointed his sniper up at the mini-mouth inside. The inside mouth almost being as large as a body-builder's arm. The sniper bullet hit its designated target sending the large beast into a frenzy of anger and pain. It twisted around swinging its tail knocking over Mace and Mudoken with a solid whack. Tyranus rolled under it and found himself between the large monster's legs. He took a step back as he pushed the barrel of his shotgun up a small orifice which was likely used only for excreting. There was a brief pause in the battlefield as the creature winced at the bodily intrusion. It all commenced again as Tyranus pulled the trigger of his weapon. The sound was a mix of toast being crushed and a mince and cheese pie being stood on. Woozily the giant beast tried to gain its balance before tumbling to the ground in defeat. Tyranus was sent crashing to the ground and became pinned underneath its immense weight. A hungry looking warrior spotted the downed marine and leapt at him to take advantage of the situation. Before it could decapitate the man with its tail it was tackled to the ground by Exo. Fiercely he sent fist after fist into the surprised creature. It clawed back trying to dislodge the man. He did not relent, instead after releasing brewed up anger in the form of fists, he pulled out his pistol and stuck it into its hissing mouth. Angrily he pulled the trigger until an empty click was all that was heard. Tyranus nodded gratefully as he dislodged himself from the beast's body.

The remaining praetorian stared loathingly at its fallen partner with invisible eyes. Before it had time to attack the offenders of its partner a blast disorientated it. Meatloaf roared angrily as he launched a stream of grenades from his pulse rifle into the head of the creature. It cried out in pain as the top part of his extended cranium crumbled off revealing soft inner flesh. Webcke was standing by Meatloaf's side as he angrily sent out sprays of shotgun bullets at any drones or warriors foolish enough to come near him or Meatloaf. Slightly above the battlefield the black demon watched with unseen eyes. It hissed silently as if relaying a message back to its matriarch. After a brief second it leaped from its position to land squarely on Webcke. The full force of the impact send him straight to the ground with a loud thud. He moaned in annoyance and pain as the creature opened its mouth. Before it had time to do anything Webcke sent his enclosed fist up hitting the creature squarely in the front row of teeth. It grunted angrily as several of its perfectly aligned teeth fell from its mouth. It swiped fiercely at Webcke's face sinking its claws in fairly deep. He winced in agony but did not relent. Freeing the other arm he grabbed the offending limb and twisted it. At first nothing happened but eventually a snapped occurred. The black demon cried out in pain and anger. Its left arm dangled uselessly – its outer carapace cracked by the brute force the marine held. Suddenly as if retaining some human self within the creature head-butted Webcke knocking him out cold.

Falcon was nearby as he fended off two threateningly with his depleted pulse rifle. They took turns at skirmishing strikes at him. Each he defended against but still felt the force jarring his body.

"Damsel!" Freefall cried out from several paces away. He leapt forward with amazing alacrity to send a knife into ones head while pulling out his pistol to deliver a three-burst shot into the other's head. Both gave minor winces before toppling over.

"What did you call me?" Falcon queried above the sounds of battle. Freefall winked and carried on. Meatloaf had pried off the Black Demon from Webcke and aimed his shotgun directly at its face. He smirked and pulled the trigger. The subtle empty 'click' that sounded from his weapon made his face go red. In almost a mocking manner, it shrieked and leapt away from harm. The final praetorian was being taken care of by Stealth and Kaelax. Each ducked and spun around the creature as it clumsily delivered strikes in its disorientated state. Eventually Kaelax saw his chance to end the miserable creature by climbing onto its back. It cried out angrily and flailed to try dislodged the man. With a steady aim he sent a continuous stream of bullets in the soft exposed tissue Meatloaf's grenades had made. With that it let out a final cry before toppling to the ground.

The surviving marines watched puffing with looks of dismay and anger on their faces as the last of the aliens retreated from where they came. Several of which dragged those of the marines who had fallen in the assault. There was a dull anticlimactic pause as everyone watched the beasts disappear into the darkness. There was suddenly a feeling that they were a much smaller number than they had started off as. Rhilian and Tyranus looked at each of their troops and to see on the ground who were still there. Miraculously Tim was still here with dead xenomorph bodies littered around him. Eventually the toll of the battle became clear. They had lost eleven marines in the assault. They may not even be dead but they were dragged off into the night... they were: Taytay, Freon, Amberjinx, Malagbaal, Matt, Whitewolf, Acekid, Logic, Morbose, Mudoken and Akoel.

Behind the surviving marines and the shuttlecraft a glimmer of sunrise appeared filtered through the cliffy outcrop from above. What a start to the day.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: In greater numbers we are strong

Shock and disbelief were the predominant emotions left as the surviving marines stood motionless as the sun slowly arose behind them. Green blood and human blood alike was splattered all over the battlefield. There were no human bodies left, only the mangled remains of xenomorphs that fell to bullets and knives. There was a long pause before anyone spoke or moved. Had they won? Was this a victory at all? Their numbers had dwindled so very low – sure they had killed far more xenomorphs than their own casualties but this still felt hollow.

The sunlight illuminated the plains in front of the shuttlecraft revealing the full extent of the damage they wrought upon the aliens. Blackened lifeless bodies were scattered here and there with large pulse bullet or sniper bullet holes within them. All the marines were torn from their motionless vacancy as Tim started to stir from his induced slumber.

"Oh, my guts feel like shit..." he whispered softly as his eyes flickered open. Without pause Rhilian and the rest of alpha quickly swooped down next to him.

"Tim?" Crusty said with wide eyes as he held his bloodied arm. Adrian had mercilessly removed the alien mini-mouth inside earlier.

"Argh... morning lads," Tim said smiling weakly as he attempted to sit up.

"Take it easy mate," Webcke ordered in worry as he placed a supporting hand behind the recon expert.

"God damn... which one of you punched me in guts a hundred times?" Tim asked jokingly. He frowned slightly at seeing everyone looking at each other uncomfortably.

The gloomy atmosphere descended upon them once more despite the nice sunny warmth flowing effortlessly around them. The sudden realisation of xenomorphs littered around him dawned on Tim. His acidified eyes from the face hugger were slowly recovering with the multiple stims that had been administered to him.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What happened here?" Tim yelled out in horror slowly backing away from the bodies. He backed up into another one behind him. He let out a mildly high-pitch cry of terror before leaping to his feet.

"Seriously what the fuck are those?" His eyes were wide open in both disgust and horror. His face died down as he saw everyone looking blankly at their feet in stunned silence.

"We got attacked man," Webcke summoned the courage to say. "We found the surviving marines from Pioneer Seven... then those fuckin' pieces of shit attacked us," he finalised with an angry growl.

After Webcke spoke there was another stunned silence as Tim tried to comprehend the littered battlefield surrounding him.

"And I... I just slept through it all?" he asked incredulously. At this point Malice and Jackson stepped up next to him and placed their friendly hands on his shoulder.

"Dude what do you remember before you blacked out?" Malice queried with a worried expression. Tim went inside his own mind to recall the event.

"We were looking for a monitor or something right?" he started. "Then... then... urm... I think... wait yeah. The damned door closed behind me and I was trapped," he blurted out suddenly. "Something was in there with me..." he added before instantly reaching up to his face. The miniature distorted scars littered his face. The acid had taken its toll but the stims had repaired what it could.

"I... I got attacked I think... I can't remember," he said with an expression of fierce concentration. Suddenly he reared backwards whilst clasping his stomach.

"Oh god," he cried out in agony. Tyranus and Angus rushed forward to pin his arms back as he started flailing uncontrollably. "What..." he gasped, "what's in me?" he croaked out with tears welling up in his misty eyes.

Tyranus stared up at the horrified Rhilian as his squad with sympathetic eyes. Angus looked at both before back at Tim.

"Sir he's about to burst," Angus said whilst grinding his teeth in dissatisfaction.

"Burst? Jesus! What do you mean!" Tim cried out horrified as his convulsions subsided slightly. Malice looked away with a pained expression. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"You're hived. You've got one of those things in you," Tyranus said plainly trying not to let his emotions get to him.

"No... no that... I don't want to die," Tim said softly looking up at Rhilian with pained eyes. Rhilian stared right back with exposed tears rolling down his cheeks. "I don't... what about Jessica," his voice now barely a whisper. "I love her..." his final words rung out and dug deep like a wasp's merciless sting. Meatloaf and Webcke stood strong with stony face as they beheld Tim's expression grow placid. His pain gone as did the colour in his face. His muscles grew stiff and all knew what happened. The Alpha squad recon expert had passed away one mission away from retirement.

Trevinator and Jaze pushed past the grieving men to shut the deceased man's eyes and cover him with a blanket. There was a minor bow in silence for not only their dead companion but to try recover from the huge loss that befall all of them from the battle. As they both stepped back in stony silence Tim's lifeless body begun to spasm violently. Tyranus quickly threw away the blanket whilst wielding his serrated combat knife above Tim's chest. Everyone except the original surviving marines backed away with horrified expressions as Tim's rip cage started rippling. They had no time to think on it as a shower of flesh erupted outwards drenching Tyranus's surprised face. In the gaping hole a small creature cawed grumpily at them. Tyranus regained his composure as he snatched the little beast up in his scarred hand.

"Little fucker!" He roared angrily as sent the knife towards its slime-covered head. It hissed softly whilst wiggling frantically. The knife skimmed across its smooth forehead but failed to dig in too deeply. Its slime covered body aided it as it launched from Tyranus's hand like a cork from a wine bottle. Angus pulled out his sniper and aimed carefully. It diverted its course suddenly as he shot where he thought it was heading. In a final mocking cry it disappeared from view behind multiple boxes and tables.

"Fuck!" Tyranus growled angrily.

"Get it!" Malice yelled with equal ferocity.

"No point. It'll be long gone," Un4seen whimpered sadly as he collapsed on one of the nearby seats. "I'd have given all of the money in the word to have never experienced that again," he added with tears flowing freely from his eyes as well. It was likely that he had seen a close comrade that befell a similar fate.

Suddenly Rhilian packed his sniper on his shoulder whilst equipping multiple stims to his belt. Longingly he marched out towards the plains before a lone voice made him falter.

"Where are you going?" Punisher asked with dried tears on his face.

"Getting back our friends," Rhilian whispered before continuing to march on. Tyranus raised his eyebrow.

"You'll only find death Alpha Sergeant," he groaned.

"Then I'll die like a man... Not live like a coward," he said quietly before pressing on. There was a brief pause as the remaining marines looked at each other.

"Wait up Sarge. You're going to need a smartarse on your quest," Malice piped up as he followed with his pulse at the ready.

"Fuck yeah... you'll need two of us," Jackson cried in agreement.

"No... you'll need your own lot of squads full of smart arses," Webcke piped up too. Slowly the mass group of marines started moving with him leaving the original survivors to deal with the mess.

"Here here," Meatloaf agreed whilst shoving several grenades into the pulse. Suddenly Rhilian stopped and turned.

"Look after him," he whispered to Tyranus. His eyes were transfixed on the still unconscious leader of Bravo. Tyranus gave an accepting nod as he watched the men trudge on.

"Sir I'd like to stay... I don't want Smash to arise to strangers," Falcon said suddenly.

"Yip, I'll stay too," Crusty nodded with Adrian at his side.

There was a murmur of confusion as the squads began to separate. There was no longer order in this situation. It was choose your place and live with the consequences. Whitewolf, Adrian, Crusty, Falcon, Silbern, Trevinator, Aussiekanga, Time2Win, and Martyrairé stayed behind with Tyranus's group while Rhilian marched on. They stayed not for fear but rather sense. Grief clearly plagued the Alpha leader and he would likely lead his men to gruesome painful deaths. They didn't sign up in the military to be killed by giant reptilian black bug things.

With final waves, Rhilian's group marched onwards slowly disappeared over the first hill of the plains. Tyranus sighed heavily and walked calmly into the shuttlecraft. Sadness was the predominant emotion left; even fear gave way to it.

"Let's get this mess sorted out," Exo suggested grimly. Slowly and without grumbles of annoyance the remaining marines began to drag xenomorph bodies away from the site.

"Good luck gentlemen," Falcon whispered after the men who had foolishly walked from the shelter.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: The Heart of hell

She was new to this kind of unrelenting terror gripping her insides like an icy vice in a slime-covered workshop. Amberjinx stayed deathly still as the creature trudged onwards into the strange resin layered cave. Its slender blackened arm gripped her leg just above her ankle making the spot sting somewhat. Her body was not used to such pulling and dragging exerted on it. Yet despite the nagging pain growing up her leg, she lay completely still as if it would somehow save her.

The slimy cave they were in stretched onwards in all directions like the interior of an ant hill. The inhabitants darted backwards and forwards to perform certain duties for their queen. Amber wondered whether they could communicate via speech or something... also how in the world did they perceive the world around them? She could not see anything resembling eyes; perhaps they utilized sonar or smell. Her thoughts were ripped from her as she beheld another alien walk past faster than her captor. In it's vice grip it dragged Morbose. The open wound where his leg once connected with his pelvis was still bleeding profusely. The skin and flesh within looked horribly stretched. She turned away from the view with tears welling in her eyes.

It seemed like hours of unrelenting dragging before the alien grasping her slowed to a simple walk. They were deep within this hive-like cave. Natural rock pillars stretched up to hold the rock ceiling above them. It was all coated in the alien's resin as well. Amber pretended she was but a ragdoll as the creature turned to her at last. She knew this was her end, this creature would finally finish her off. Surprisingly it didn't. Rather it pinned her against a web of resin. It gave way slightly like a spider's web gives way to a fly, only to ensnare it further. She kept her eyes fastened close to keep up the appearance of death or unconsciousness, whatever would keep her alive. She felt a gooey substance run over her arms and legs like wet cement before it hardens.

She didn't know where the slimy resin had came from but not daring to take the risk she kept her eyes shut. The heavy breath of the alien subsided as it turned away from sniffing her. The urge to quiver or shake was held back desperately. Somehow she managed it. Her arms were slightly uncomfortable by being held up in such a way; slowly she risked moving them. The un-dried goo moved easily as she subtly drew her hand down. Her heart leapt up in terror as hundreds of angry shrieks rung out throughout the chamber. Her eyes instinctively flickered open as she cursed herself for doing so. The absolutely astounding image of the vast nest in front of her was breath-taking.

Large pods, that Amber assumed were eggs of some kind, littered the area like termite mounds in Africa. The enlarged xenomorphs continued to cry angrily as they all launched in the direction of one particular tunnel. Something was drawing their attention and they were not happy. She gulped horrified as she witnessed two giant praetorians trudge on past her hissing malevolently. Everything happened so fast that soon she was left staring wondrously at the now empty chamber. There were no guarding xenomorphs of any kind. In the mild darkness of the hive she finally witnessed the rest of the subdued marines. Morbose was latched to a wall and there was now a stump where his missing leg was. No blood was present other than the dried stuff that resided there from earlier. How did it heal so quickly? Her eyes widened in surprise as she discovered two stims lying uselessly by his feet. They had been used...

She stared from her placement trying to understand how Morbose had stabbed himself while his hands were tied up and he was unconscious. Or perhaps he wasn't. Then it suddenly dawned on her, what if it wasn't him? What if the creatures managed it. A lone drone of the alien species came running frantically into the chamber to inspect the new prey. She eyed it carefully as it crossed over to Taytay's limp body. Her breaths were small and weak. A large claw mark ravaged the side of her face as well as minor scratches and bruises lining both her arms. Amber watched in horrid fascination as the drone ripped out a stim from Taytay's pocket. It somehow knew what to do... It broke off the cap somewhat begrudgingly before thrusting the point into Taytay's neck.

As Amber tried to shift uncomfortably, she suddenly felt compressed and unable to move freely. The goo on her arms and legs held her tightly like leather straps on an operating table. Her arm which had moved somewhat earlier was free however, a crust of dried resin circled her wrist but it was no longer attached to the wall. She suddenly realised she still bore a pistol which poked out of her waist pocket. Slowly and unobtrusively she lowered her free arm down to it. The drone whipped up suddenly to point its domed head directly at her. It sensed something about her as if it knew her change from passiveness to aggressiveness. Before it had time to react she whipped up the pistol and pointed it at the creatures head. It hissed viciously before the pistol shot rung off around the room. The shot hit true making the creature fall lifelessly to the ground with a bullet hole squarely in its head.

Angrily she pushed and heaved at the confining resin latched to her remaining limbs. Eventually she turned her pistol to aim at the resin on her other arm. She shot carefully. She could swear to almost having felt the heat of the bullet brush fast her wrist as it tore through the resin. Like glass it shattered releasing her. Before she knew it she had pried off the resin on her legs. She had seen more than the number of people in here being taken last night. That meant this wasn't the only room holding the marines prisoner. Holding her pistol out in front of her she went to inspect each of the unconscious marines who were also enclosed in resin. Everyone was still alive surprisingly, even Malagbaal and Morbose despite their severe injuries however no one was awake either. Each resided deep in unconsciousness.

A subtle squelch of a noise startled Amber as she was trying to pry her closest friend Taytay off the wall. She whipped around wielding the pistol threateningly. At first she thought it may have been her imagination before she realised the eggs were quivering ever so slightly. The torch on her shoulder beamed full of life as she flicked it on. Through the translucent lining of the eggs Amber could make out a silhouette of a hand-like creature within. It shook softly several times before wiggling its limbs and tail. Softly it made its way to the surface of the egg. Amber was horrified to see the top of the pod flop open in a four-way pattern. Without thinking she shot at the egg with a three-bullet burst. The creature within shrieked painfully before falling completely silent and motionless. She dared not move closer in the event it still clung to life. Her heart sunk in dismay as she witnessed more eggs starting to pry themselves open. She knew she didn't have enough bullets as she subtly backed up into Taytay. She let out a startled wince as one of Taytay's freed bloodied hands fell upon her shoulder.

"Go... Run," the pained female soldier groaned out hoarsely.

Some of the creatures emerged from their pods seeking hosts hungrily. One latched mercilessly to Morbose's face. Malagbaal was next as his silent breathing was suddenly muffled.

"I'm not leaving you Taytay," Amber cried out with tears rolling down her cheek. She shot three of the creatures as they neared her.

"Please Amber," Taytay's tired voice sounded. This only drove Amber on with more determination. Relentlessly she tore at the resin covering Taytay's legs. She was horrified to witness Taytay's legs distorted into agonising directions. "They broke my legs..." she said painfully, "I'm dead anyway... please run," she added with tears rolling down her cheeks. Amber stood frozen for several paralytic seconds.

"Taytay..." she whispered sadly.

"I'll hold them off... just please go..." Taytay whispered whilst stretching her arm to grab her own sheathed pistol.

Amber ran with only a single saddened look back. Taytay let off bullet after bullet as the fierce facehuggers neared her. Tears welled up blurring Amber's vision as she ran without pause down one of the closest hive corridors. The echoing of the pistol shots abruptly stopped sometime afterwards... Amber was alone. Her run slowed to a determined fast walk as she navigated the empty passages. Distant shrieks and pulse bullets rung true to her ears. She didn't have the faintest clue which way they were coming from but that meant the surviving marines were coming for her. Her heart leapt at the hope rising within her. She paused abruptly upon coming to another open chamber littered with pods. Some were already open while others twitched. Her squad leader Freon was here but already had a facehugger coiled around his face.

As she neared, she realised not only was her squad leader here but also all of the others who had been dragged off. Matt dangled lifelessly with a facehugger upon him. Mudoken and Akoel were also hived. Acekid had dried blood running down his throat where a large gash had opened up his trachea; he was clearly dead from the battle. Hiving his lifeless body would be useless. The top of Whitewolf's head was blown open and a pistol lay uselessly by his feet. He had committed suicide upon awakening. The only unscathed marine was Logic. His head bowed forward baring bruises and scrapes but no facehugger clung to him nor was there a lifeless one by his feet. He was unhived currently. As she got the courage to lurch forward to free him three angry looking drones made themselves apparent.

Angrily the beasts made their way down the sides of the resin covered walls. Malevolently they hissed expressing their anger at the sudden interruption and intrusion. Amber barely had time to think as each launched off towards her. She raised her ammo-depleted pistol and shot a three-bullet burst at the closest one. It collapsed under the first hail of gunfire whilst the other continued onwards. She let out another three-burst which crippled another. The remaining one leapt into the air with its claws eagerly anticipating biting into her flesh. She sidestepped to her right as the creature crashed to the ground and rounded to face her. She pulled the trigger of the pistol but to no avail. It was completely out of ammunition. It triumphantly launched at her again, this time managing to claw her left shoulder somewhat deeply as she tried to side-step it again. Her counter was mildly effective as she attempted to pistol-whip the top of its head. It recoiled angrily but relatively unscathed before attempting another strike. It missed completely as she leapt back whining slightly at the blood flowing freely from her shoulder.

She tried to slash at the creature's body with the butt of the pistol but it blocked the attack with his blackened nimble arms. In a flash it slapped Amber to the ground with the back of its blackened clawed hand. Seeing its chance it leapt atop her hungrily waiting to finish her off. As it opened its jaws threateningly she pushed at it with her powerfully built legs. It flung off slightly but recovered quickly. In her torchlight she suddenly realised Acekid's unused pistol lying uselessly. Without another pause she ran towards it but the creature was superior in speed. It rounded in front of her blocking her from the weapon.

"I'm going to kill you and your whole fuckin' bug nest," she roared angrily. With that she charged forward unscathed shoulder first. The surprised creature was smacked to the ground as she collided with it shoulder to throat. Her charged changed into a graceful jump as she leapt over it and rolled perfectly. In a flash she whipped up the fully loaded pistol.

The alien twisted its head slightly in confusion before green blood burst from it from a continuation of three-fire bursts from the pistol. It whined softly before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Amber spat at it as she rounded to Logic. He was breathing heavily, almost as if he'd been hit by a car.

"Logic?" she whispered softly. He stirred slightly. "Logic, its Amber..." Again he stirred until his eyes weakly flickered open.

"Amber," he choked before letting out deafening wheezing.

"Come on let's get you down," she advised before pulling at the crusty resin lining his arms and legs. Her adrenaline pumping through her made her strong, each tug pulled away each block of resin with ease.

"Where are we?" he asked, his eyes heavy with weariness.

"Hell," she whispered a reply.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Silent Screams

The Yautja had watched the battle between the serpents and the humans with intrigue. It was fiercely intense and both sides did not relent for a minute despite the vast casualties. Two bizarre things occurred shortly after that confused him further... the humans did not celebrate their eventual victory and even stranger, they separated into two smaller groups; a very unwise move for prey – no matter how powerful their defensive weapons were.

The morning bore a crispy cool feel to it as the sun lazily traced up from its rising horizon. The cliff face Dangles watched from was over ten metres above the crashed human pod. It had struggling browning vegetation and scree-slips all along its vast surface. Dangles knew he'd not be able to engage from this vantage point but it did provide an acceptable scouting location. He got a feel for his warm-blood prey. They walked backwards and forwards like discontented ants moaning their dreary dialect.

The wise Yautja stared evaluating patrol routes and safe entrances into the area without being spotted even with his active camouflage. The sun was near the middle of the sky by the time he decided to move. Carefully yet with agile alacrity he descended the cliff face several paces from the shuttlecraft. He made sure not to disturb even a single rock lest it roll off and give away his position. His rippling image of transparent air whistled past like an ethereal wind unaffected by solid surfaces.

The first marine he encountered bore one of those multiple firing pellet weapons. The humans called them pulse rifles... whatever possessed them to set fire to little bits of iron and metal rounded into pellets was beyond him. Just proved how primitive these grunting, groaning pink and dark skinned things were. He swallowed his disgust for the revolting and fragile looking creatures to get on with the hunt. The pulse-rifle wielder strode forward confidently eyeing the area carefully. The Yautja froze completely. He knew his active camouflage distorted the area around him when he moved. A trained eye may be able to spot that, however when utterly still there were few who could decipher background from camo'ed Yautja.

This unwise marine had strayed perhaps a little too far from the rest of its pack. Dangles eyed it almost hungrily as it turned its back to him. He saw his chance to collect his first warm-blooded trophy. Like a rampant wind, the invisible figure of Dangles swished from his motionless poise to the unsuspecting marine. The deed was done without so much as a struggle. The Yautja was upon the marine and latched his powerful hands around each side of the man's head. Before he had time to scream or alert the others his neck was snapped like a rotting twig. The Yautja didn't even give the dead man time to fall uselessly to the ground. Rather he dragged him off behind some cover where none might discover him without a thorough search. The Yautja doubted he'd have time to hang the man upside down and skinned like was tradition.

While in the protected environment, the Yautja proceeded to extract the marine's head. The top of the spine snapping was far too loud for the Yautja's liking. Instinctively he whipped up his head to inspect the surroundings. Nothing seemed disturbed and the casual groaning of the filthy humans in the distance continued. Once the head was disconnected from the rest of the body the Yautja moved to stalk another prey. The fleshed skull of the being, now attached to his waist, was surprisingly heavy for a supposedly stupid creature. He'd need to clean it of flesh and brains to lighten its load later.

Carefully the predator withdrew his smart disc for the next encounter. He doubted whether he'd be able to separate the rest of the marines without careful planning. Without even the sound of light pattering, the predator leapt upon some stacked metallic boxes to gain another tactical view.

"You see that?" one of the humans grunted out like one of the Yautja boars... filthy creatures.

"What?" another groaned. Their dialect was like a moaning pregnant Yautja, it almost physically hurt his focused ears.

"It was like a mini twister in the air. Looked cool," the man continued whilst pointing in the direction of Dangles.

"Where the fuck is Time2Win? His watch starts soon," a much more muscled man piped up suddenly. His pack shrugged their shoulders – some form of primitive gesturing Dangles supposed.

Their distracting dialect continued for some time as Dangles tried to find a perfect opening point where he may wreck the most havoc whilst hopefully taking the least amount of damage. The predator was startled as he changed his vision to heat vision to get a further idea of the number of men here. Right next to him laid either a sleeping or unconscious marine but he still clearly gave off heat signatures. Had he not switched to heat vision he'd likely not have spotted him. Then the familiarity of the being struck the Yautja like ice cold water. This was the filthy human who had eluded him earlier... the scumish weakling that had been carried off instead of giving up its skull.

Dangles was going to make quite sure it would not escape him a second time. Without a pause he drew out a plasma mine. Its red beacon was mildly traitorous to his position but if all went to plan, the surrounding humans would all be liquidifed or disintegrated before they had a chance to move. In a flash he threw it to the circle of marines in the middle then leapt upon the unconscious marine with wristblades drawn.

It had slain several more patrolling serpents in its forest-dominant hunting grounds. The helm it bore was now lush with symbols of each kill. Something about the casual killing of these runners – these drones were somewhat boring. Sure they put up exceptional fights at times and died like true warriors should... but they were far too easy for an elite like himself. The Jacky Yautja inspected its trophy tree one more time with interest. The collection of claws, tail-tips and inner mouths of the serpents had mounted far behind his expectations.

The chiselled creature let out a bored sigh as it beheld a drone skittering past below it. It was tempted to let the thing just go about its business unperturbed but something inside him hungered for a kill wherever he could get it. The creature paused for an idle second below him. That was what sealed its fate. In a flash the Yautja was falling towards it with wrist blades extended. It let out a minute shriek as it smelt the predator coming at it. Alas it was too late. The heavy greaves attached to the predator's legs instantly crushed the creature's skull. Acid oozed out of the massive indent in its carapace. It hissed like steaming water against his metallic boots but to no avail. Jacky had taken special armour resist to the spray of serpent's acid blood.

He flicked his feet outwards letting the minute amount of acid clinging to his boots splatter against a nearby tree. He let out another disappointed sigh. Another kill, another symbol. Goodie. His thoughts were completely scrambled as something incredibly hard smashed into the top of his head. He fell to the ground in surprise as he stared up at his offender. A lone warrior hissed malevolently at him as it retracted its tail. If its point had hit but an inch higher the predator's brains would have been skewered. As it was there was only a very uncomfortable indent at the top-front of his helm.

This creature bore a long scar across the front of its ridged domed head. Something hit Jacky like a ton of bricks. The scar was relatively fresh but looked as though something metallic had caused it. Had this warrior engaged one of his companion hunters and emerged victorious? In a rage the Yautja launched off the ground to claw at the malevolent creature. It darted part and leapt to another tree behind him. In a flash it slashed its tail out again like a whip. Jacky growled in anger and pain as the tail plunged deep into its right muscled shoulder. Fluorescent green blood dribbled from the deep wound as the predator backed away in horror. This creature was no ordinary warrior. In time it'd likely become a praetorian with the skill it bore.

Once more it leapt from tree trunk to tree trunk digging its claws in deep as it send tail whip after tail whip at the startled Yautja. Another hit at the left of his pelvis resonated a horrid crunch noise as the inner bone cracked from the pointed strike. He let out a painful growl before staggering backwards. Hastily and without his usual grace he withdrew his powerful combi-stick; an item capable of skewering a serpent while not taking any damage from the acid. He sent it straight towards the serpent's exposed ridged head as it leapt to get closer. The hit glanced off to the side as the creature shifted its weight accordingly. The Yautja's eyes widened a little in terror as the serpent changed tactics suddenly and leapt upon it with outstretched claws. His strength was fading fast with the numerous deep blows that had been dealt to it.

The scar-bearing warrior clawed violently at the helm until finally it wrenched it free from the Yautja's face. Instinctively the Yautja attacked at his wrist bomb to activate it. The angry serpent held nothing back as it sliced through his arm with its tail. In a flash it whipped up the severed arm and threw its beeping wrist-technology a fair distance to the side. Jacky watched in weakened horror as the warrior swiped a final claw at its face... then came darkness.

The vast body of the praetorian lay crumbled at his feet. He collapsed wearily onto its spiny back making sure none skewered his legs or rear-end. He puffed out a victory growl before checking the contents of the weapons upon him. He had thrown a plasma mine into the mouth of the praetorian causing its entire head to explode in a bluish blaze of black and green. Clayinator hadn't even the motivation to mark the symbol on his helm; the fight had taken nearly everything out of him. He felt thoroughly proud of himself however. His father had dreamed of battling a praetorian but had never been granted the opportunity, yet here he was on his first ever hunt and he got to slay one.

His prideful thoughts were rudely interrupted by distant pulse rifle and shotgun noises somewhere within the resinous cave. His head tilted slightly in confusion as he realised what that meant. Why the fuck were their humans in a serpent's cave? With renewed vigour in the form of horror Clayinator leapt up branding a smart disc. The humans were going after the queen! This was their sacred hunting grounds and this queen had provided the serpent prey for over two-hundred generations of Yautja. He could not stand idly by while she was threatened.

In a flash he left the sizzling body of the dead praetorian to descend deeper into the cave. Further in was a maze of corridors and passageways each with their own resinous concoctions. The sound of pulse rifles and the occasional shotgun blast echoed down to him from multiple routes. He growled his frustrations before picking one at random. He spent several minutes running up it until he realised he was getting further from the action. He backtracked about four times before feeling adequate with his decision. To his utter annoyance the sound of weapons and shrieking aliens stopped abruptly. Had the serpents dispatched of the sacredly-inept humans? Or were the humans victorious in their first skirmish? Clayinator did not dwell long to think on it. He weaved up more corridors and passageways until he finally beheld a pile of dead serpent bodies. He growled angrily as he raced past them.

Eventually he came to a large opening where recovering serpents were coming together to regroup. He noted there wasn't a single human body anywhere from the battle. The pink and dark-skins could actually hold their own. The notion was both surprising and utterly annoying. He looked forward to testing their resolve against a primed Yautja ready for slaughtering. A vast number of serpents had conglomerated in front of him. He knew before they did they'd have his scent and he'd have to battle through them to get to the humans. He wanted to growl an explanation to them... that he was trying to save their matriarch but he knew it'd be no use... might have better luck asking a wall to get out of the way.

And so he battled and fought magnificently. He sacrificed another plasma mine to be rid of the closest two assailants. He then shot him net to pin a further aggressor. Finally he plasma blasted the remnants. He counted seven enemies – he'd have to symbolise them on his helm later in respect. The battle, if you could call it that, lasted for less than five minutes; though he did not have those five minutes. In a disgruntled fashion he growled as he ran down a promising looking corridor. These filthy red-bloods would make lovely trophies.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen – Pray and Prey

He felt the presence of something standing over him. He attacked at his stubborn eye lids with his mind. Slowly and unsteadily he opened his eyes. The vision that greeted him was blurry and unfocused. He hadn't a clue as to where he was or what was going on but the familiar smell of gun powder and decaying flesh greeting his more than operational nostrils. Strange clicking noises rung out from the figure standing above him, followed by two slivers of metal sliding against more metal, like a blade leaving a scabbard.

The next few moments were just as unrealistic and unfocussed as a deafening explosion roared from his right along with the screams of men. A flash of unfocussed blue overwhelmed his vision for less than a couple of seconds before dimming down. Instinctively he tried to sit up before a large unclean foot stamped him back flat with force. He felt his lungs deflate as air was forced from his body. His vision focussed just as two pronged blades attached to a giant creature's wrist came speeding towards his eyes. He yelped in horror as he sent his hands up to defend himself. Both his hands caught the creature's fist while the blades stopped an inch away from both his eyeballs. The enormous creature grunted angrily and put more force in its attack.

It was like the opposite of a tug of war match as both sides pushed fiercely at one another. Smashington felt his arms waver significantly under the immense strength of the creature. He flailed his legs about trying to dislodge the predator's firm stance. He heard more people around him crying out in pain and discomfort at whatever had caused the immense blue light and explosion. He could hold against the creature no longer as he felt it's one arm push with more strength than both his arms combined. Just as he was about to allow the blades to end his life in resignation several bullets rang out from nearby. Sparks of the ricocheted attacks illuminated the creature's masked face for a brief second. It recoiled slightly in surprise and anger. This allowed Smashington just enough time to slide away from the beast. He fumbled backwards trying to get to his feet. The creature had continued its attack but hit the empty spot where Smashington was little more than a second ago.

It roared out ferociously before whipping out the familiar looking Frisbee-object that had wounded him earlier. Instinctively he threw himself to the ground as three laser-pointer-like lights zoomed over him. The disc lurched forward giving him a slight hair cut as it skimmed past. He heard the sickly squirt of blood and instant crunch of bone behind him. An unfamiliar marine wielding a simple pistol behind him had been instantly decapitated by the mechanism. His headless body crumbled to the ground as blood squirted out nauseously. A Further cry of alarm surfaced as people beheld the dead marine. Smashington had no time to dwell on it as the mighty creature descended upon him with its blades stretched out once more. He backed away hastily as it swung at him. It would have hit true if another marine hadn't attempted to tackle it. It stumbled ever so slightly as a large man, Smash also hadn't seen before, charged without qualm into the side of it.

The next few moments blurred once more as friendly human arms grabbed both his arms and pulled him from the fray.

"Fuck it up Tyranus!" a man cried out angrily behind Smash. The man attacking the creature with little more than a knife and his fists was apparently called Tyranus. His vision focussed once more upon a line up of deadly weapons all poised at the creature. None dared fire outright upon the beast lest they hit the marine named Tyranus in the crossfire. So each bode their time and aimed.

Tyranus was no stranger to melee combat. He had trained with his lads many times in the past. You need three things to prevail against any target. Strength, speed and luck. If the enemy was superior in any of those then you must be more adept at another. He soon learnt he held no contest in strength against the mighty creature; a swift unarmed blow from the creature sending him reeling backwards. It was intelligent however, it knew quickly to stand between him and his men lest it receive a thousand bullets to the face at once.

It swung again this time with its bladed arm. He dodged the strike only slightly before countering with his knife. He slashed at it viciously against its masked face. It had the same effect as slashing a cinderblock as only sparks illuminated the area. He didn't have the speed to recover from his strike as it suddenly grabbed him by the throat. His body suddenly felt immensely heavy as his entire weight rested on his neck where the beast clutched him. He whipped his knife up to its un-armoured bicep. The jab slid in like a knife skewering a reptile. The outer layer of skin was as hard as scales but once through it sliced cleanly and efficiently. The beast growled in agony before smashing its head down onto his. The full realisation of how hard the mask was became abundantly clear, as if the full force of a truck on the motorway had transferred all its force into the small area of the helm.

Tyranus felt his brow and nose break instantly under the force of the head butt coupled with the metallic mask. Blood ran over his eyes and mouth obscuring his already blurring vision. It was painful admittedly but adrenaline, shock and numbness had made it less predominant. He had fallen to the ground without realising it. The creature instantly realised its mistake in making itself a wide open target. Everyone including Tyranus gasped slightly as it suddenly disappeared into thin air. Gun fire and angry growls filled the air instantly as the predator disappeared. Every now and then fluorescent green blood seemed to appear from nowhere in the hail of gun fire until all fell quiet once more.

Angus was the first next to Tyranus wielding a bottle of water and clean bandages. He looked angry, scared and confused.

"It killed Kaelax!" the man cried out his face visibly shaking in anger and grief. "The mother-fucker killed Kaelax!" he repeated with clenched fists. Tyranus groaned slightly as his adrenaline left him.

"How many...? How many wounded?" he managed to groan before placing his head back against the grassy patch beneath him. Falcon stepped forward with a grim expression.

"We found two more dead. Time2Win was found missing his head and Martyraire died in the explosion," he reported with hazy eyes. Un4seen was the next on the scene with an equally dismayed expression.

"Damn it Sarge! Stealth is down and breathing hard. Half his face is charred man! In the newcomers Adrian, Trevinator and Silbern are unconscious. Silbern's missing some fingers," he reported with a lump of horror and terror all too obvious in his throat. Tyranus's eyes lulled slightly before rolling up and unconsciousness took him.

Smashington recognised some faces instantly amongst the peculiar crowd of people. There was Falcon, Crusty, Aussiekanga and a few others who were lying unconscious.

"Smash? Jesus mate, thought we'd never see you up and about again," Falcon whispered as the others transported Tyranus into the shuttlecraft along with the other unconscious men.

"What the hell's happened? Where is everyone?" Smash queried hoping not to get the answer he expected. Falcon paused for a bit then grimaced.

"They've gone to attack those black monsters," he answered looking as though each word weighed on him deeply.

"Black monsters? Oh Joseph and Mary not those reptile things? They'll get killed!" Smashington cried out in horror. His only memory was of the one that had attempted to latch onto Malice's legs in the compound. It was a brief view but left a lasting image.

Both men fell silent as Time2Win's headless body was escorted past them. Falcon gagged and then let what little food he had in his stomach spew out next to him. He coughed out an apologetic sorry to those around. He needn't have bother has nearly everyone was doing the same. Those caught in the blue blast bore black charred parts. The unconscious ones were generally the only ones.

"...and what the fuck was that?" Smashington finally ended the pause whilst thinking of the beast that had tried to skewer him.

"We've never seen them before. Wouldn't have a fuckin' clue." The pause descended once more before a sudden rippling in the ground made everyone stand up and look around in worry. Everyone still conscious formed into a group wielding their weapons threateningly as the shake in the ground grew more predominant. Suddenly like a wave of unrelenting water, a burst of air knocked them all onto the ground. What followed next made every man latch onto their ears in agony. An enormous explosion sounded off in the distance of the forest. Each man squinted their eyes in bewilderment and fear while continuing to block their ears from the continuous roar of the explosion.

The roaring winds and deafening noise of the explosion held true for several prolonged seconds before everything died down to silence once more. Everyone slowly and carefully got to their feet once more as if hasty movement would spark off another immense explosion.

"Oh god! What was that?" Un4seen whispered with wide eyes.

"I just want to go home man; I just want to see my family again!" Crusty cried out with fresh tears running down his cheeks. Everything that had happened continued to wear on their morale. Only Smashington, who had been unconscious for a majority of the daunting situations, was still holding onto a shred of composure and clear-headed thoughts.

"This is a no go Falcon, we need to round up every survivor and head back to Earth," he said without hesitation.

"How? We haven't enough fuel to reach even halfway back," Falcon replied as men whispered and murmured their theories of the explosion around him.

"We siphon as much as we can from one or two of the vessels and put it evenly into the last three. We may not fully reach Earth but at least we can call command if we're close enough," Smashington explained before standing.

"You fuckin' genius sarge!" Falcon cried out joyously.

Angus turned to stare at the two with confused and dismayed eyes. He looked like a man given up on hope. Survival was merely something he could choose to continue to do now if he wanted. Death almost seemed a better option; an end to the fear, the surprises, the agony of losing close friends.

"What's going on?" he queried weakly.

"Round up everyone, we're going to the dropships," Smash informed with leadership clearly in his tone.

"No... we're staying here until Tyranus orders us otherwise," the man rebuked with little effort in his voice.

"I thank that man for saving my life. But we're getting off this planet and I'm not leaving any of you behind." There was a pause as Angus let his words sink in.

"Get off this planet? Ha! Your torpor has made you delusional," he said at last with a sarcastic bitter laugh.

The ignorance of the man was getting on his nerves but Smash held himself together as he calmly explained his idea of escape. As bravo leader he shouldn't need to explain himself to a grunt but given the circumstances he'd let it pass.

"We wait until Tyranus is awake before we decide anything!" Angus growled, his motivation returning in the form of a challenge.

"We leave now and we take the wounded with us... know your place," Smash replied with growing annoyance.

"I'm not following an order from someone who's been fuckin' sleeping while we've been getting ripped apart out here, take your orders and blow them through your ass," Angus angrily roared letting everyone nearby hear clearly.

"I'm not asking your permission grunt. Follow or I will carry you myself," Smashington yelled back somewhat spraying the man's face with salvia. Everyone could see it would come to blows very soon.

Their prediction became correct as Angus launched a clenched fist straight for Smashington's face. The leader of Bravo squad sidestepped and grabbed the offending arm before twisting it around. Everyone watched in surprise as within seconds Angus was pinned to the ground with his arm twisted behind his back. He grunted out his anger and dissatisfaction still refusing to give up. It was Un4seen who brought an end to the quarrelling by putting a friendly hand on Smashington's shoulder.

"Sir, we've lost many good men to these beasts. We've all got short fuses. I know more than anything in this world that I want to be back home... but me and my boys have fought under Tyranus's command for several good years now. He's never done us wrong. Let us wait until he's back with us before we decide anything." The silence grew once more as Smashington grasped at his words.

"Aye... well said soldier, it would be easier with conscious men anyway. Alright we hold our current position until your squad leader is back."

"Thank you sir."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen – You and what army?

He felt guilt slowly wash over him as his fury subsided to mild anger. He didn't know what he was doing. His fiancé had been dragged off along with his many men. One of his best friends died in front of him as some kind of creature erupted from him. All he could think of was justice and vengeance. The xenomorphs had taken so much from him and he wanted to dish a little back. He wouldn't have thought nearly every man under his command would follow him to his and their deaths. Being a leader was not to show emotion as clear as he had. His anger had controlled him but there was no turning back now.

The marines following Rhilian were deep within the alien's resinous squelchy cave. By some luck none of them had been killed... yet. And even more surprising was that Yurtsin had followed them despite the obvious dangers; a brave civilian that was for sure. The entire area they currently navigated through bore empty eggs of the creatures. They hadn't come across anymore of the actual black creatures since first entering the hive. Despite the cold darkness of the abyss-like area spirits were not as low as would be expected. Malice and Jackson were talking again with strained humour. Meatloaf was quietly crushing empty beer cans and throwing them behind himself. Webcke was humming some internet song about assassins and birds killing people. Punisher, Freefall and Lokamatoka were exchanging glances... earlier they were playing a game called: "who can spot the xeno first." Freefall was in the lead but only by a couple.

Nocturnal was deathly quiet scanning any trace of movement with his eagle-like eyes. It was a rare case when something managed to sneak past his gaze. Despite the almost casual behaviour everyone knew something was going down very shortly. They felt watched even if they couldn't see from where. Waltzing into a bug's hive would never be this easy, xeno's would be no exception to that rule. Slowly they continued through inspecting the empty eggs as they passed. Jaze took particular interest in the resinous layer within the sickly gooey pods.

"Almost smells like petrol..." he commented in confusion.

"This things are biological Jaze... not machines," Jackson said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah I get that. Just almost smells like the stuff I put in my car." There was a brief pause as Malice went to clarify it.

"Hmmm... smells like an overused raceway," he grunted in dissatisfaction.

"Perhaps a chemical by-product of their metabolisms," Yurtsin piped up near the back of the group.

"Perhaps... let's keep moving," Rhilian finalised before walking off with his sniper held high.

They continued to walk deeper and deeper into the hive with no opposition. The full extent of the size of the place was starting to dawn on them. Malice had watched a documentary about ants building underground hives the equivalent of twenty human cities. If these xenomorphs shared the desire of size and space then they were in for a very, very long walk.

"There! That's two!" Lokamatoka suddenly yelled out breaking the silence. The group of marines shifted their weight to face in the direction he pointed at. A flick of black skimmed in the darkness on the roof some distance away from them.

"Bullshit! Filthy Mexican!" Punisher growled as Lokamatoka possibly over took him in score.

"I saw it too!" Malice piped up.

"Bah... nothing but lies!" Punisher growled again.

"Suck it that's two!" Lokamatoka cried out joyfully.

While facing the direction of the possible threat a cunning alien emerged from a small hole in the ground behind their backs. Stealthily it moved up to the closest marine in preparation to deliver a fatal blow. This closest marine happened to be Jaze who kept his pulse rifle aimed in the direction of the previous movement.

"Oh no you don't." The words came from Nocturnal who had suspected such an attack from the sneaky alien. He had positioned himself behind the hole awaiting anything foolish enough to emerge. It's shriek was cut short as Nocturnal plunged his combat knife into it's almost metallic blackened throat. He pulled the knife outwards causing a fresh gush of greenish acid blood to poor forth.

"Awww... shit really?" Nocturnal grumbled as he watched the blade of his knife dissolve quickly. He kicked at the limp creature aggressively. "That's fuckin' gona' come out of my pay!" There were a few sniggers as he looked up. Jaze was wide-eyed in horror and terror while the rest seemed relatively unfazed.

"Man..." Jaze started before gulping. "Thanks Noc." Nocturnal beamed a smile back.

"Always willing to do my civil service sir... I just... Oh shit..." he started before his eyes widened and jaw gaped somewhat.

Slowly and expecting the worst the band of marines turned around with their weapons ready to shoot. They were greeted an inquisitive bear is greeted by a swarm of honey bees. Closing in fast from the other side of the immense room were what could almost be over a hundred xenomorphs hissing and shrieking their annoyance at the marine's intrusion. The ground thudding slightly as five immensely sized praetorians trod along behind the vanguard.

"Sarge!" Webcke whimpered holding his pulse.

"Run boys!" Rhilian cried out realising there'd be no point in trying to fend off that many attackers and think of surviving.

They all leapt off into an incredibly fast sprint. It was amazing how quickly men could become when threatened with death. They took the closest corridor that looked at least a tight squeeze. The beasts would have to come at four at a time at least. And a praetorian would need to go single-file. They heard the deathly screeching close in behind them. They had seen the speed of the creatures. There were likely no other biological creatures known to man that could move quite so fast for such an extended period of time.

"Malice! If I die you can have computer!" Jackson roared out with the maori marine at his side.

"Jackson! If I die... urm... well it was good knowing you I guess?" he replied with a fatigued grin. Somehow imminent death wasn't as scary as some would think it was. Humour even in the most terrifying of situations can bring one peace.

The noises grew louder and louder behind them. Punisher made the mistake of looking behind him to see how close they were. He beheld several faster drones catching up at an incredible pace. He forced himself to stop for a second to release a grenade. Freefall grabbed him and forced him to keep running. Both expected to hear the grenade go off behind them but there was no explosion.

"It... oh man..." Punisher puffed in exhaustion. "It didn't blow up."

"The walls are all soft bro. Nades' need a hard surface to trigger the interior." Lokamatoka explained looking relatively unfazed by the running.

"Smart..." Punisher started.

"Thanks," Loka said smiling.

"No... No... I meant smartass." There was a fatigued laugh from most of the marines.

The corridor they navigated through lead to another open chamber. Two tall natural pillars covered in the resinous goo covered each one.

"Give me your nades," Nocturnal roared above the puffing and panting. Jaze whipped off his entire belt and threw it to the veteran. Freefall and Lokamatoka fumbled with the grenades in their belts for a second then threw them over.

"It was a pleasure knowing you gentlemen," he whispered.

"Noc what? Wait! Jesus!" Malice cried out as he ran past Nocturnal. The man came to a complete stop by the two natural pillars whilst brandishing the grenades in his hands. He smiled weakly as the creatures rushed towards him.

"I'm coming echo," he whispered to himself then slammed the two grenades in his hands together. The advancing aliens paused for a second and Nocturnal let the activated grenades fall to the ground at his feet.

Jackson and Meatloaf held back Malice as he tried to go back for the marine with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Nocturnal!" he cried out one last time as an immense explosion filled the cavern. The pillars creaked and groaned before a loud crunch sent a crack through the middle of both of them. Time seemed to lag slightly as the marines sprinted with the last of their energy to a small corridor on the opposite end of the cavern. Each made a final leap into it as the ceiling behind them started to crumble down in large chunks.

The crumbling of the cavernous roof continued for several minutes before a daunting silence befall the group once more. They all suddenly felt short one heroic man.

"Why? Why did he do that!" Malice cried out in subdued anger.

"He just saved all our lives," Freefall whispered looking blankly at the ground. The entranceway behind them was completely blocked off. No pursuing aliens would manage to get through the debris easily. They were safe once more... if only for a time.

"To Nocturnal," Meatloaf said loudly raising a beer can.

"Oh fucking knock it off," Rhilian growled smashing the can from his hands. There was a silence more daunting that followed. "We don't need to fuckin' drink every time someone dies. I shouldn't even be letting any of you die in the first place!" he growled to himself as much as to them. He collapsed to his knees with tears welling up. A sight rarely seen in a leader; let alone alpha leader.

"You've done right by us hundreds of times before Rhil," Webcke announced as was typical with his fiercely loyalty. He patted the sobbing leader with a sympathetic hand.

"I've lead all of you to your deaths. In a fit of anger I've fucked us all up." Everyone looked at each other grimly.

"Right then..." Meatloaf grunted with clear dissatisfaction. He grabbed the leader of the squad he was a part of and thrust him against the wall.

"You!" he started, then slapped the man. "Are!" He slapped him the opposite way. "A!" Slap. "Good!" Slap "Man!" Rhilian's eyes wiggled around in their sockets for a few seconds then they focussed again.

"Thank you Meatloaf," he grunted before lifting himself back to his usual demeanour.

"No problem. Was fun," Meatloaf grunted before picking up the beer can leaking its contents on the resinous ground. He took a deep gulp of it.

"Ergh... dude that had slime on it," Webcke groaned in disgust.

"Eh? Extra protein."

Distant shrieks reawakened the men to where they were and what predicament they had put themselves in.

"Orders Sarge?" Freebe asked suddenly.

"Let's move out." The group of men down by one continued along the corridor. The shrieks and screams of the xenomorphs were once again distant. They only heard the ghostly echoes probably originating a league away. They continued walking for a time until they found another relatively open chamber. Dismay and horror imprinted upon their expressions as they found familiar faces hanging on the walls. Freon was near them with a large hole in his chest with his ribs putting outwards. Further in they spotted similar fates for the surviving marines men, Matt, Mudoken and Akoel. More familiar faces were present as well. Whitewolf and Acekid though they looked unhived but rather dead from other means.

It wasn't everyone that had been taken but it was enough to let them know there was no hope for any of the dragged away marines. A sudden stir in a nearby pile of oozing green goo alarmed the men as they all whipped their weapons up instinctively.

"Sarge! Something's in there!" Freebe whispered out in horror.

"OOOooooOh! I'm the bogey man!" A human voice moaned from the sludge. Slowly a green-slime covered man arose from the goo to stare at them with a toothy grin.

"Jesus Logic!" Rhilian said incredulously.

"Bang bang." Webcke and Meatloaf launched forward to pull him from the sludge. To their surprise they discovered Amberjinx in the sludge pile as well almost completely submerged. She was clearly unconscious. "She's lost a lot of blood from her shoulder. I couldn't find a stim. Them xeno-beasties know what they are and how to use them. They took them all." Rhilian rushed forward to grab his fiancé. He cradled her despite the wretched smell that clung to both her and Logic.

"What the fuck are you soaked in?" Jackson asked with disgust clearly present.

"Okay... now hear me out. I've got a theory. D'em nasty dogs don't have eyes..."

"Xenomorphs," Malice corrected

"Aye. D'em. Now they don't have eyes. So how they know where we are?" He let everyone stared at him with tilted confused heads. "Yeah... yeah now you've got your heads working!" he stated happily.

"Get on with it," Jackson growled.

"Aye I'm getting there. Alright... so I had this theory right. Nothing special. I just went and thought well they can't see us..."

"Logic!"

"Yeah so they can't, so they must have to smell us. You see? Cause they don't... See I mean." He sounded fanatical.

"Jesus he's lost his mind!" Freebe cried out in horror.

"No... no... he's always been like that." Malice said casually.

"For serious! So I hid in this here nasty slime and brought Amber with me. Not a single beastie noticed us it didn't!"

They were broken away from Logic's explanation as Amber stirred slightly from her slumber. All eyes watched as her eyes weakly flickered open.

"Rhil... Rhillybear?" she whispered as she saw Rhilian's large eyes staring back down at her. You could hear Malice's attempted stifling of a laugh at the loving nickname. "You came back for me?" Rhilian didn't get time to answer as Punisher pushed his head in front of Rhilian's to look down at her.

"Is Taytay alright? Is she hiding like you?" he queried with hope in his eyes. A lone tear trailing down Amber's cheek. It was enough to answer his question. He nodded shakily before falling backwards into a seated position.

"Dude Punisher?" Freefall looked alarmed at the completely defeated look in Punisher's hollow eyes.

The group had dropped their guard down significantly at the reunion of two of their comrades. They hadn't noticed two very sneaky facehuggers carefully making their way towards them. Meatloaf and Jackson simultaneously cried out in horror as they successfully took the two marines off guard. Both tugged and wrenched at the little creatures stuck to their faces. The other men quickly leapt to assist but to no avail. Both coiled their tails triumphantly around their victims' necks.

"Sarge! We can't get them off!" Webcke cried in panic.

"They have been hived, we must leave them," Yurtsin suddenly piped up. Nearly all had forgotten his presence.

"No!" Webcke and Malice roared out simultaneously. A small pause of depressing silence hovered around the group for a few seconds.

"I'll carry this drunk oaf to safety even if it kills me!" Webcke stated with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah! I'd get Jaze to carry Jackson to safety as well... even if it killed him!" Malice yelled out in equal defiance. Webcke turned to him with threatening eyes.

"Dude really?" The question was rhetorical but got the answer of shrugged shoulders.

"Fuck all of this. We're getting out of here men," Rhilian announced and he lifted up Amber with both his arms. Webcke threw Meatloaf with the facehugger still attached to his face onto his shoulder.

"Oh god. You fat fuck! You're going to owe me so much after this," Webcke grumbled to the unconscious body of Meatloaf.

"Mush!" Malice cried out as he lurched forward while surprisingly carrying Jackson himself.

Break

Nocturnal awoke with the taste of blood on his tongue. He felt the crushing weight of something compressing his abdomen and legs. He sighed heavily in dismay. He had hoped for a quick heroic death. He felt burns all up the front of his body likely from the grenade explosion. He felt both paralysed and compressed. Images of his original squad in echo filled his thoughts. He smiled weakly to himself. He had meant to die with them on that fateful mission in the past. He was never meant to live. He was running on borrowed time. Something inside him smiled at thought of seeing them again. Where he'd go once he died. His smile grew wider. He didn't even notice a lone warrior of the aliens walk up to him hissing. His vacant eyes stared blankly forward with the grinning expression still planted on his face as a blackened claw came towards him. Then there was darkness.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen – The matriarch's call

It arose from its fleshy prison with a powerful screech for one so small. The human host that had nourished it to life was once named Taytay. Her white face hung low expressionless. Slowly it coiled outwards from the gaping hole it had made. It sniffed at its surroundings; everything was so new and beautiful. It paused for a second as something reached into its mind like an invisible hand.

_Humans within the hive. Grow, be powerful. Hunt. Expand the hive._

Taytay's alien screeched its agreement to the air. Its matriarch had given it its first command – her loving mind intertwined with the powerful queen's. It was a spectacular feeling.

She could smell on the other side of the room more human hosts were tied up. Gaping holes already present upon their chests. One destined to be a warrior had arisen from Morbose's body. It coiled up at the dead man's feet awaiting its structure to grow to that of an adult. Another had sprung from Malagbaal's body and was doing the same. Taytay's alien knew it should follow suit. It needed power and size before it could do any harm to the humans. The feeling within it was longing. It longed to please her queen. It wanted to capture as many humans as possible to satisfy her matriarch's call. But it'd need patience while time did its work.

A sudden change in smell entered the room. It was something different yet more pungent than the humans. It reeked of hostility and malice. Dangling tubules on its thick skull wobbled around letting off more powerful smells. There was a tinge of metallic scent within the air – something on the creature's face. And there were chemicals, powerful rich chemicals emanating from a gun-like object on the creature's shoulder. It was a hunter. This creature was known to the hive mind. It's kind had slaughtered and killed members of the hive in the past. They were powerful adversaries. None had been captured to play host in the past... but something in her mind told her that had changed. The scarred warrior had captured one. It had delimbed the creature's arm and dragged it away from a blue eruption of sorts. It was bringing the unconscious body here to the safety and protection of the hive.

Taytay's alien continued to lay motionless as it smelt the hunter getting more distant until finally all that remained was the ghost of its odour. It could hear crunches of its allying friends breaking through their outer carapaces. Their new layer of epidermis was moist and soft as all underlying skin was during a shedding. They were bigger but only slightly. It'd take three more moults before they were of sufficient size to take on the hunter and humans. It smelt congealed sickly blood squirted from the dead hosts on the walls as Malagbaal and Morbose fed to sustain themselves. If they were to grow powerful and large they required their host's dead bodies one more time.

A sudden pleasurable smell filled the room as Taytay recognised a friend enter. It was the one the humans referred to as the Black Demon. She instantly recognised it's past and present as was the gift of the hive mind... knowing all about all your hive-mates. There were no secrets, no rifts. They served the matriarch. The matriarch forms the hive mind. The hive mind serves them; a beautiful absolutely completing cycle with no flaws. Taytay followed black demon with her head, it smelt the creature's direction. It stalked the hunter. It had suffered a wound to its left forearm earlier but the miraculous regenerative properties their species held was nothing short of amazing. It had completely healed and was at full strength once more. Hopefully that was enough to tackle and end the life of the hunter or better yet capture it and force it to play host.

Then Taytay started to feel the body it compassed growing too small to house it properly. It was cramped like a prison within itself. The dried hard carapace cracked along the ridgeline of its back. Taytay felt itself push upwards wiggling. In several short moments the body it now controlled was sufficiently larger and already more intimidating. The thought of eating the useless husk of its previous carapace came to mind. Many nutritional benefits arose from eating one's own shed skins. But with the diet of humans nearby there was little need. The host's bodies needed to be disposed of anyway – best be productive about it and feed. The inner mouth Taytay possessed lashed out at the body of the host it had once used to grow. After several large mouthfuls of flesh it was satisfied and curled into a ball once more. It had felt the formation of limbs with the last moulting. With that came speed and stealth... most useful assets.

Time passed slowly but Taytay and the others knew patience profoundly well. Eventually after a time Morbose and Malagbaal twisted and contorted uncomfortably in their now encompassing carapaces. They hissed and shrieked as if this particular moult were more painful than the last. Taytay didn't relish in the thought that it'd be next to experience the pain but it was necessary to grow large and powerful. The beasts that arose from Morbose and Malagbaal's empty husks were proud powerful creatures. Still one more moult awaited them but they already showed signs of being able to tear foes limb from limb. Their own limbs had grown significantly. They were no longer streamlined worms with a biting mouth. They were balanced on both ends capable of walking backwards and forth. She smelt Morbose's movement to the resinous walls. It dangled upside down smelling the egg pods below and its hive-mates growing more powerful by the second.

Communication attacked Taytay's unready mind. The scarred warrior had brought the original hunter to the hive. The technological beast had been strung up with the cementing excretions of the nearby warriors to keep it from escaping. Now all that was needed was the youth of the matriarch to hatch from their encompassing pods. Only one would be needed to make a new hive-mate; the likes in which no other hive-mate had seen before. The news was exciting and jarred Taytay slightly from her motionless slumber. A sudden pain struck it as the carapace it wore cracked slightly. It was like ripping yourself from within yourself. The agony mounted as Taytay cried out. It was barely tolerable but it must be done... it must be done. The next few moments were over and it was free with renewed appetite. It attacked the host again more viciously, also using its stubby forelimbs to latch onto parts. By the time it had finished, the host that had carried it was now little more than bloody bones... still strung up.

Taytay found herself following the two hive-mates preceding her. Malagbaal and Morbose were trotting along the resinous floors towards the corridor the hunter had disappeared down. Its smell still clung to the walls. As was beneficial with such surfaces – they kept the smell of enemies strong so that the hive-mind may know what threatens the matriarch and the matriarch's youth.

_Too many loses to praetorians. Kill the marines. Become praetorian. Protect the matriarch. _

It was a challenge. Whoever caught or killed the most humans would become a praetorian. A creature developed for the sole purpose of protecting the matriarch; an honour to anyone of their species. Taytay took it as a personal challenge to become that praetorian.

Before any of them had gotten far large warriors came up the opposite end of the corridor hissing. They were newly hatched. They had hatched from the previous marines' that were captured. Freon, Matt, Mudoken, Akoel, Cowkiller. They were aggressive. Their smell solidified that fact. They weren't angry at them in particular but they were hungry. The flesh had been cleaned from their human hosts and they had gone through their final moult with no food awaiting them. They were prowling for the humans. They had smelt the potential hosts clearly. Taytay now caught a whiff of it. They had been in the chamber ahead but had gone off down another. Taytay let out a sudden horrified screech. They had gone down the route to get to the matriarch. It knew the direction from the hive-mind despite it'd never had the chance to traverse it itself. A sudden uproar of screeches echoed Taytay's own. Every one of her hive-mates were in a panic. The humans could harm their queen, their hive-mind. Before they had a chance to pursue a long slender but powerful hive-mate leapt at the head of their forming group. It was the scarred warrior. It opened its mouth and hissed commandingly to the pack it would commandeer.

With the hunter tied up and awaiting a youth to latch upon it, the scarred one's duty there was complete. It would now lead these hive-mates to victory over the rogue hunter and the invading humans. Taytay stared at its superior in awe. It would surely become the praetorian the matriarch wanted but instantly the scarred warrior's hive-mind connected with Taytay's. The slash upon its dome had left its lifecycle damaged. It would never grow into anything more. Its destiny was as a warrior not a praetorian. The scarred warrior paused for a second as it inspected its pack. It screeched angrily before leaping off down the tunnel at an intense pace. It expected the young hive-mates to follow it despite the incompletion of their moulting.

Before the three young hive-mates had a chance to complain they felt their carapaces' crack. They were to become warriors as the hive-mind called for it. The agony was ten-times that of the previous moult. Taytay felt itself writhing in horror. For the matriarch it reminded itself. For the matriarch...


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen – Cold, cold fate

The shrieking behind them grew louder as they continued to run as fast as they could. Malice and Webcke lagged behind somewhat whilst heaving along with the heavy unconscious bodies of their friends. They hadn't a clue which way was the correct route to escape the darkness of the hive but so long as they stayed away from the strengthen screeches they'd be happy. The torches they wielded were a godsend. Every now and then they'd discover a sneaky xenomorph hiding in an engrave within the resinous wall. The long slender bodies of the creatures curled into the slots perfectly blending them in. However the creatures didn't count of the advanced sniper scopes. The technologically superior weapons created a white outline of all living biological creatures larger than twenty centimetres. All Rhilian and Lokamatoka had to do was scan the walls with the scope to find upcoming ambushes before they could strike... then all that was needed was a quick bullet to the domed skull of the creatures.

The main force of the xenomorph swarm were still likely on their way to them finding whatever passages would be beneficial to quicken their route. The marines had chosen a random corridor to move up but to their dismay it led to a chamber that was a dead end... or so they thought. Using the torches they found a large gaping hole in floor of the small chamber. To further the added dismay they heard the screeches behind them. The nimble beasts had closed the distance between then incredibly fast.

"We got to jump," Rhilian yelled out.

"Is this a bad time to say I'm both claustrophobic and scared of heights?" Freebe queried as he stared at the seemingly endless pit. The squad watched in surprise as Rhilian hopped down the hole with amber still clutched to his arms.

His falling induced cries sounded for several seconds before there was a rough squelchy noise.

"It's ok. It pans out a bit," they heard him cry up. Logic took a flying leap next without even the slightest hesitation. Everyone looked uncomfortably before Malice took the plunge with Jackson still flopped over his shoulder.

"Geronimo!" he cried out as his voice got distant with the descent. The same muffled squelchy noise resonated up. "Jesus Rhilian – move! I almost landed on you." They heard shortly afterwards. Punisher winced and followed suit with a high-pitch scream.

"Well then... who's next?" the remaining marines queried. No one had the chance to answer as an invisible force smashed Lokamatoka and Freefall into one of the walls. The invisible force also knocked Jaze into the hole on its way to Lokamatoka and Freefall. They both stared in horror as a large masked creature while tubules similar to dreadlocks miraculously formed in front of them Its immensely muscles arms had pinned both of them to the walls with relatively little effort. It pulled back the arm holding Lokamatoka and slammed it into the wall again knocking out the captive. Freefall continued to writhe in pain and discomfort from the grip. Freebe launched forward to stab the overpowered beast. He was stopped half way as the arm clutching Lokamatoka let go of its unconscious captive and swung back hitting Freebe dead in the chest. With a loud oooaf, Freebe was sent flying down the centre hole in the floor.

"Sorry buddy!" Webcke whispered as he dropped Meatloaf down the hole then withdrew his pulse rifle.

The large beast whipped around and threw Freefall into the wall on the other side of the chamber. Webcke ducked under the body originally targeted for him. As he squeezed the trigger of his gun aimed at the creature it disappeared again. Not being put off he followed the movement of the breeze within the enclosed chamber with the spray of his weapon. He must have gotten at least three bullets in the beast before it reached him. Unfazed with the wounds on its body it threw a heavy fist up. Its scaly knuckles collided with Webcke's pulse rifle sending it upwards and smacking him in the face. He felt his nose break instantly under the impact.

The marine wobbled slightly before regaining his composure despite the immense amount of blood flowing freely from the awkwardly bent ridge of his nasal. He was about to open his mouth to smart profanities at the creature before realising any action involving his face created a fresh burst of intolerable agony. The creature sent another fist at Webcke but narrowly missed as the marine sidestepped it.

"What the fuck is happening up there?" Webcke heard Rhilian call out from below. The man didn't even have time to withdraw his combat knife as the creature bombarded him with more punches. Using his pulse rifle's frame he blocked each blow, however still felt the significant jarring to his body from each impact.

A sudden realisation hit Webcke as the creature sent more punches his way. He hadn't a chance in hell of winning against this creature in melee combat. The thing was a tank, a very big tank. He saw three small bullet holes in the creature's abdomen and yet still this creature seemed oblivious to having felt even the slightest twinge of pain. He wanted to cry out for help as a particularly powerful attack split his pulse rifle down the middle, then realised the pain from his nose. He hastily backed away from the beast. It made a strange clicking noise from beneath its metallic evil looking mask. Yurtsin was watching the entire time and calmly slid down the hole away from the conflict.

The creature was about to send another attack this time with extended wrist blades Webcke's way but was interrupted as a three-fire burst from Freefall's pistol sounded out. Each bullet collided accurately with the beast's metallic mask. Webcke was dismayed to see they all rebounded off with a pang of sparks. The creature seemed temporarily dazed and surprised but quickly found its composure.

"Get Loka!" Freefall groaned as he pulled himself forward towards the hole. The beast back handed Webcke with an enclosed fist sending him sprawling and breathing hard on the resinous floor. The creature readied itself to finish the task when another three-burst from Freefall's pistol hit the creature's left shoulder. It growled in annoyance and pain. In a powerful leap the beast was above Freefall. Webcke managed to drag himself to his feet and run over to Lokamatoka. The marine was alive but breathing heavily.

"Go!" Freefall growled to Webcke as the beast pulled the shaking man from the ground. "Tell Punisher he's still a jew!" Freefall cried out as Webcke and Lokamatoka disappeared from view down the large hole.

Freefall closed his eyes ready for the large wrist blades to slice deeply into his skin. He heard the creature clicking away as it examined its prize.

"Do it! Do it you fucker!" Freefall yelled sending salvia all over the beast's helmed face. That was all the incentive it needed as it pulled its arm back whilst extending its wrist blades to finish the job. The next few moments happened as a blur as time sped up and slowed down alternatively. A large black xenomorph leapt upon the back of the predator thrusting the claws of its hind legs in deeply. Freefall could have sworn he'd seen this exact xenomorph before. It was the black demon the surviving marines at the shuttlecraft had pointed out in the xenomorph assault.

The predator cried out in both agony and surprise as it dropped the human prey in its clutches. Freefall landed awkwardly bending his right ankle to the right until an agonising click and spasm wrenched his entire leg. With effort he pulled himself forward and down into the darkness of the hole. He managed to see the large beast pulling off the xenomorph with effort causing a spray of fluorescent green blood.

He was immediately shrouded by Punisher who looked into his eyes with worry clearly present. Lokamatoka was slowly regaining consciousness next to him as Webcke splatter some limited water onto his face.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Punisher asked as he saw Freefall's eyes rolling about within their sockets.

"None you dick. Help me up," he immediately replied to which Punisher did what he was told. Webcke looked over guiltily with blood still flowing from his nose.

"Dude I'm so sorry, I didn't want to leave you," he said with his head hanging low.

"You followed orders mate. I told you to get Loka out of there," Freefall replied smiling weakly.

"Excuse me ladies... but let's get the fuck out of here!" Malice cried out.

With the unconscious bodies thrown onto whoever was still capable the marines continued at a brisk pace. The battle screeches and roars above them grew more distant as they came to an immensely large open room with a huge amount of xenomorph pods littering the resinous ground. Everyone tread carefully as they navigated through the hatchery hoping not to disturb any of the little beasties. Sudden movement at the very back of the room jarred them all into motionlessness.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Lokamatoka whispered quietly as they all beheld a creature of immense size stir slightly. It was nearly two times the size of a praetorian and had a huge egg-producing sac attached to its posterior. It noticed them shortly afterwards with its eyeless extended skull. It bore an immensely large crest with spikes sticking outwards at its periphery. It let out a dissatisfied hiss at the presence of the intruders yet did nothing more but seemingly stare.

"This is the motherfucker who's created all these little bastards," Webcke grunted out, instantly grabbing his face in pain at realising it really isn't a good idea to talk with a broken nose.

The next few moments seemed surreal as first the predator burst through the same entrance as they had wielding a disc and a multitude of wounds covering its body. Next the black demon followed it with claw marks all over its domed skull and body. Following them in a completely different entrance a good eight or so aliens arose with a scarred leader at the front. The scene following was like a picture as nearly everyone and everything froze completely still. No one stirred for some time as the aliens domed heads followed the pods, then to their matriarch, then to the predator, then to the marines, then to the black demon and then back to the pods. No one dared to make the first move as everyone seemed to have something to lose.

Suddenly the apparent freeze in time was stopped as the queen twisted her enormous ridged head to look first at the pursuing group of aliens. She let out a malevolent growl and hiss. Something they seemed to understand perfectly well. Immediately and almost begrudgingly they backed up towards the entrance they had come from. In the next moment they were gone from view. Then the black demon turned away from the predator it hunted to go back to hole it had leapt down, then the sessile queen turned its immense head to face the humans. Almost instantly they realised this was a bargain. For their safe passage out of the chamber they were to harm no pods nor the matriarch herself. Rhilian stepped forward slightly and nodded. He had no clue whether or not this gesture made sense to the creature but it felt better than doing anything.

The predator too seemed alarmed by what was going on. It retracted its wrist blades and slowly backed away to the closest corridor it could find. Rhilian barked orders to the men and quickly lead them to a corridor on the far side of the room where he'd hoped no xenomorphs would be awaiting to ambush them. As soon as they were out of view of the creature they heard an immensely loud shriek likely from the matriarch herself. It gave them the will to continue running. The particular corridor they had chosen had a relatively steep incline. This hopefully meant if they follow it for long enough they'd emerge near the surface of somewhere.

They ran continuously for what seemed a good twenty minutes before fatigue and weariness started to slow their pace; even Lokamatoka who was fitter than most of them seemed to be feeling the ache in his legs.

"It was actually intelligent! It wasn't just a freakin' bug. It was smart," Jaze yelled in wonder. Everyone gave grim expressions. It was enough they were fighting stealthy blackened beasts but if they had a monarch that was smart that'd be all they could take. The sound of multiple screeching behind them grew louder and stronger. The xenomorphs were back on their trial and keen for flesh.

A sudden hope glistened in all their eyes as they beheld light at the end of the tunnel they traversed.

"We're going to make it!" Freebe cried out joyfully. They continued running with renewed spirits despite the growing ache in their legs. Just before the exit something tripped up Rhilian sending Amber tumbling forward. She mumbled slightly in her induced torpor as blackened slender arms gripped Rhilian's tired calves.

"Take her! Get her to safety!" that was all Rhilian cried out as the blackened arms pulled him down a small hole in the resinous floor... then there came silence. The squad cried out in horror but obeyed orders. Jaze and Freebe held back Webcke who still had Meatloaf on his shoulder.

"We got to get out of here! Run!" Punisher yelled out, taking charge. In a flash he whipped Amber onto his shoulder and proceeded out into the light with the marines at his heels.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen – Whisked away

Mace and Angus found themselves walking backwards and forwards in front of the crashed shuttle craft. Anxiety had risen up in them at the possible that Tyranus may be out cold for more than just a couple of hours. Without special medical assistance in the form of a military hospital he may not even awake at all. Exo had told them their worries were unfounded... when had Tyranus ever given up on anything. They held true to his words and allowed their worries to bottle inside rather than be clearly visible upon their expressions every waking moment.

All around the small camp they had set up was relatively quiet. The new marines had huddled around a makeshift fire as the late afternoon started to set in. The resources were low even with the additions the new marines had put in. Tomorrow if Tyranus hadn't awoken they'd need to hunt or gather whatever food they could from the nearby forest... whatever was left of it after the blue explosion. The thought was daunting. At least here they had strength in numbers and a constant guard to keep an eye for trouble... in the forest they could be ambushed from any number of angles.

The beast that had killed three of their men hadn't returned but something continued to make the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end. Perhaps they were being watched like a lioness watches its prey before it strikes a killing blow; or perhaps it was the vivid memory of the beast killing three of their own with relatively little effort and knocked out their leader with one foul head butt. Trying to tear the memory out of their wary minds was liking tearing away a hungry leech. It wasn't easy. The original surviving marines had dropped drastically in number. All that remained were Tyranus, Mace, Exo, Angus, Un4Seen, and badly burned Stealth. There was a horrible feeling in the air that if the xenomorphs attacked in such great numbers again they'd likely wipe the marines out for good. Especially if combined with those giant seemingly unstoppable dreadlocked beasts.

Despite the depressed atmosphere the fire where most of the marines resided crackled away merrily. Smashington had taken an inventory count of all the weapons and ammunition remaining. It wasn't good news but it wasn't hugely bad either. They could hold off against a minor skirmish perhaps but a full forced attack would leave them fully depleted leaving redundant melee weapons. Rhilian's group had taken a large amount of ammunition that would now have been so useful.

"I've been thinking Smash... this plan of yours," Un4Seen started while scratching his stubbly chin.

"Yes soldier?" Smashington instinctively asked.

"Shuttlecrafts aren't like ordinary vehicles. You can't just stick in a hose and suck fuels out. You need proper machinery. How are we going to go about getting the stuff out?" Un4Seen continued whilst bringing his arm down. Smashington looked taken back before rubbing his right hand through his hair.

"If it comes down to it we should be able to blowtorch underneath the port side. Fuel cylinders should reside inside there..." Smashington explained before Crusty's eyes widened a bit.

"Isn't that dangerous Sarge?"

"Very... we don't have many options left however. If end up blowing ourselves up trying to get the cylinders it'd be a better fate than being gnawed on by the beasts around here." His words were final and forced nods around the camp fire. No one wanted to die by the hands of those beasts... best die in a big flash trying to escape than the alternative.

Before anyone could give further input Angus and Mace erupted from the shuttlecraft with eager grins.

"He's awake! Get some water!" Angus yelled. Exo immediately did what was suggested while Smashington strode past to enter the shuttle. The two troops had done a good job cleaning up the man. Last time he saw Tyranus had blood leaking from every pore on his face from the savage blow delivered to him; now he just looked black and blue inside.

"Ergh... stop fussing. I'm alright!" he growled weakly as Angus laid a cloth over his leader's forehead. "Seriously I'm fine!" he whimpered instinctively clutching at his nose in pain.

"You feeling up to talking?" Smashington queried softly not wishing to push the man past his limits.

"That fucker did a number on me..." Tyranus started before realising who he was talking to. "Ah... Bravo leader... Urm... Smackton wasn't it?"

"Smashington," Smash corrected patiently.

"Aye yes Smashington. Was wondering if you were going to be up and about again... good to see you're alright. I'm Master Sergeant Tyranus..." Tyranus announced before pausing then coughing up blood roughly.

"I've been the briefing of everything sir... Please save your strength. I have a proposal," Smashington said with sympathetic eyes. Angus and Exo looked horrified at seeing the coagulated blood running down their leader's stubbly chin.

"Quit your gawking... I'm alright. That thing just managed to get a solid punch in. My guts will heal in time. Now Smashington..." Tyranus yelled at the two before turning back to Bravo leader. "Proposal you say?"

Smashington spent several minutes running through his plan of action with Tyranus making sure not to spare the man any small details. Once finished he stood at attention with his chin held high and at the ready.

"Aye a solid well thought-out plan," Tyranus said to himself more than anyone else while nodding slowly. Instantly he realised the mistake of this and stopped. "Not too keen on the blowing ourselves up part if we cut too close to the cylinders if I must be brutally honest," Tyranus admitted with a stony face. "If my memories aren't too garbled up I think there was a generator pump at the compound. It was used for withdrawing fuel from inappropriate places and exchanged with the generators. Not sure if it'll fit with a shuttlecraft's fuel cap but worth a try." Hope gleamed in all the men's eyes suddenly. Angus had realised Smashington's idea wasn't a foolish cling to a fading thread of hope but rather a plausible escape plan.

Smashington eventually nodded politely before withdrawing from the shuttle to go speak with the next highest in command of his group. This would be Falcon.

"We're going to heading to the compound again once..." Smashington started before faltering at witnessing Falcon's dismayed expression. "Hear me out. We'll be going to the compound to find a generator pump. It should be able to work on the shuttles. We'll fill up the last three shuttles with the fuel from the other two. It should be enough..." Smashington explained before Trevinator cut him off.

"Why three? Each shuttle has six hibernation pods – Charlie's had seven. Surely we only need two?" Smashington stopped to think and do a quick head count. There were twelve people in total in the camp although Smashington's plans took Rhilian group into consideration. Rhilian had set out with eleven men to hopefully rescue a further eleven marines. Total that made thirty five marines if everyone was still alive in the hive. The three drop pods could hold nineteen if Charlie Squad's shuttle was included as it held the extra pod for Yurtsin. Smash grimaced as he tallied up the numbers in his head a second time. Perhaps they could fit that many onto the three shuttles but they'd need to pack enough food on board to keep the ones not entering a stasis alive.

"I'm including Rhilian's men and the marines taken from us," Smash said loudly so everyone could hear his words. There was an uncomfortable pause and everyone present looked grimly at the fire.

"Sir I don't think..." Trevinator started.

"We wait for Rhilian and those under his command," he finalised.

The idea was set in Smashington's mind now and no one save Tyranus was going to query it. He'd never known alpha squad to fail on an objective, save perhaps the time he had rescued Rhilian the other members of his squad from a rebel ambush. He had absolute faith the man would come back with unscathed marines that he and his men had rescued. Before he could dwell on it further Tyranus emerged from the shuttle craft with bandages wrapped around his face tightly; only his eyes had been left un-molested.

"You look like a mummy..." Mace commented with a weak grin.

"Shut up Pig!" was the immediate response.

The recent memory of the three that had died weighed heavily on the marines but death was sometimes common in the marine corp to those who had vigorous and dangerous missions. Tyranus's men were used to it as was Smashington. The only way to get past grieving is to smile, joke and put on a brave face. That's what they all did... even Tyranus despite the fact no one could see it.

"I'm going to take your advice on this one Smack... Smash. Do we leave now or wait until the morning?" Tyranus queried, his voice somewhat muffled by the bandages over his mouth.

"Best if we leave straight away I think sir. I'd like to leave a note somewhere along here for Rhilian and his men. If they come back I want them to know where to find us. Tyranus simply bobbed his head up and down in agreement.

"Indeed. You heard the man! Arseholes and elbows gentlemen. Gather our supplies. Get our weapons. We're moving out." The command was enlightening somehow. Perhaps the possibility of leaving the damnable planet renewed their spirits and morale as in less than ten minutes the camp was devoid of anything that was needed.

Smashington hastily scrawled a legible note for any men that might make their way back to the shuttlecraft expecting assistance.

_We've a plan to escape this planet. We'll be heading to the compound to retrieve the some important equipment then we're heading back to the shuttlecrafts: Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. We'll be siphoning fuel from Delta and Echo. It will hopefully be enough to get into range of communication with command. Best hurry._

_Smash_

He read over his note and couldn't think of anything more to add before looking up at the men with renewed smiles and excitement.

_P.S. Tell Meatloaf to bring more beers._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen – Hive in your heart

Amber awoke with start. Her eyes flickered open to an afternoon sky. Three un-troubled birds fluttered over head towards wherever they were nested. The sun was some distance from the horizon but still close enough to let her know that the afternoon would soon be slipping into night time. Shortly after her eyes opened, her body found its lack of balance and discomfort. She realised she was being carried cradle-style by someone. Faded blurry memories came back to her... Rhilian had ventured into the hive to rescue her. That must be who was carrying her. She lovingly tilted her head to stare at the man.

Her startled gasp nearly made Punisher drop her in surprise. He re-caught her uncomfortably sending a throbbing dull pain back through her shoulder where the xenomorph had delivered a powerful swipe.

"Jesus Punisher! Let me down. What the hell!" She cried out angrily and in confusion. The earth slowly met her feet as Punisher did what was commanded of him. She noticed the familiar faces of the marines around her. There was only one missing from them... Rhilian. "Where's Rhilian?" she asked quietly hoping to see her fiancé behind Malice or Webcke who were still carrying their marine comrades.

"Amber..." Punisher started. "Rhilian is..." Amber's eyes widened in horror. What he was about to say wasn't true. She knew it before Punisher said the word.

"No... No he's not!" she cried out angrily as if Punisher daring to say the words were profligacy of its highest order. "This is a silly prank isn't it!" she yelled hoping her words were true. She realised they weren't as everyone except Yurtsin and Punisher kept their eyes away from hers.

"He's gone Amber. We need to get back!" Punisher said a bit louder and holding his ground. He liked to joke around and play the fool when the situation called for it but in these kind of circumstances he was a leader... he would be a leader.

His words however did not bring Amber to a halt instead they seemed to enrage her further. He tried to grab her arms to steady the anger and sadness growing within but she shook free cursing and clawing.

"You fuckin' left him! Where is he! I'll get him myself," she cried out angrily whilst backing away. Punisher tried to remain calm as he stepped forward. There was nothing like an enraged female that made you think of nothing more than protecting your private parts.

"Please Amber. His last request was to get you safely away. Please don't make this harder on the rest of us..." His words finally caused her to stop on the spot. She didn't back away as Punisher put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"Did... did he suffer?" she asked hoping her fiancé had a quick clean death.

"Those things got him... Dragged him away," Freebe whispered sadly. Punisher shot him an incredulous look.

"What!" she cried out again. She had expected them to tell her Rhilian was clearly dead. If the creature's had dragged him off he'd probably still be alive somewhere. She only had a limited amount of time before he was hived and then there'd be no hope.

The next few moments were surreal as Amber suddenly made a mad dash past Punisher in the direction they had just come from. Punisher had expected it and put his arm out to catch her halfway.

"Stop Amber," he yelled, gripping her shoulders firmly. Amber grabbed his arm and twisted it forcibly.

"Jesus Amber stop!" Lokamatoka cried out as Amber threw Punisher to the ground then sprinted off unhindered towards the cave. She heard their cries fading behind her. She'd not let her fiancé die by the hands of these creatures. She'd not let what happened to her best friend Taytay happen to her man. No one pursued as far as she could tell. They were all wearied from running out the hive while she had been carried – her energy was nowhere near depleted.

She continued to sprint for a good ten minutes whilst holding back stinging tears. Hadn't she saved Logic after all? Surely she could save her fiancé from a similar fate. Then the realism of what she was up against hit her like a ton of bricks. She was going into a hive of aggressive territorial beasts like it'd be an easy trip. They would also be on high alert as they'd just been robbed of hosts for their sick lifecycle. Her pace slowed as the task she set herself wore away at her already dim willpower.

"I won't let you die," she whispered to the scene in front of her as if Rhilian could hear her words clearly.

A sudden realisation at the green globs covering her cloths and face made her cringe in disgust. Some of the slime was still significantly moist as it clung to her like a dehydrated barnacle. It smelt putrid when she actually took the time to sniff the air around her when not in a rage. She was about to brush it off when a faded blurry memory on the outskirts of her subconscious attacked her. Logic was pulling her. She had collapsed for some reason and Logic was pulling her somewhere. He was scared and was trying to move her somewhere in a hurry. He pulled her... into the slime... why had he pulled her there? Then the memory disappeared into darkness. She contemplated it while she walked. Had a creature attacked her now they'd find her easy prey in her distracted state but for the length of the journey she remained un-harried.

She was snapped from her distracting thoughts like a twig as she realised she was at the mouth of the cave. The vast entrance was covered in resinous goo – freshly deposited. Fairly nearby, cries and shrieks jarred her to alertness. She'd be no good to Rhilian if she was roped up next to him unconscious; although at least they'd die together. Quickly she strode to the cave entrance and squatted for a time. A length of resinous slime slowly dribbled from the ceiling like a glow worm riding its own silk. A fair quantity of it splattered against Amber's wounded shoulder and oozed down her arm. She winced in disgust but kept quiet. A sudden nearby screech made her slam herself against the wall of the entrance causing a fresh wave of the slime to flow over her hair and face. The somewhat lumpy texture was nauseating.

She didn't have time to think on it as a lone drone came trotting from the darkness of the hive to sniff at the entrance. It turned quickly to where Amber was squatting. She froze instinctively with her hand on her pistol. She suddenly wished she had a more powerful weapon on hand. These pistols were alright but didn't come with the comfort that a chunky pulse rifle bore.

The creature cautiously walked closer as if it were intrigued by something but utterly confused at the same time. Amber couldn't understand why it wasn't attacking. She was right there in front of it. If the creature had eyes it'd have spotted her clearly. Then the realisation hit and the answer as to why Logic dragged her into slime was answered. The creatures lived through scent and pheromones. She likely had both but the overwhelming stench of the freshly deposited resin was drowning out her human smell. If put into a context humans could understand it would be like seeing a finger without a hand or an eye without a face just floating in the air. There was something human there but not completely human. Did it still pose a threat? There'd be too little of it to use as a host... it'd be useless. Amber's theories were clarified as the creature gave a high-pitched grunt before trotting off outside into the fading afternoon sun. It likely went to hunt.

She stayed motionless for sometime before realising it wasn't coming back and she had truly just escaped conflict that was little more than a metre in front of her. A sudden problem dawned on her as the resin started to harden like cement across her. She manoeuvred her arms and torso in such a way that it depicted the flow of the resin. Before she knew it she had created what almost looked like hardened resinous armour. She piled more onto her legs and body making sure to avoid her joints lest the resinous excretions imprison her. Calmly and with renewed spirits she marched into the cave as if she owned the place.

The walk was short-lived as she came across a man-sized hole in the floor. Somehow she felt this was the one Rhilian must have been dragged down. She hadn't the faintest clue how she knew – she just did. Carefully she lowered herself into it. With a final gulp she let go and slid down it like a waterslide. Near the bottom it panned out with a few lumpy resinous bumps. Amber was never a fan of tight spaces and this was no exception, however her willpower pushed her onwards. She would save her future husband!

After multiple navigations and what seemed almost an hour of continuous crawling in the vent-like natural cave hole, Amber misplaced a hand and fell forward through a small woman-sized hole. It led straight into a nice open chamber. Several unopened pods quivered slightly as she landed with a loud squelch. Her biological armour somewhat cushioned the blow yet still forced the air from her lungs. After a quick shake of her head she arose to her feet with renewed vigour. She was inside once more and one step closer to finding her hubby.

The room was similar to the others she encountered prior to her rescue. The walls were covered in resinous goo. Several natural pillars held up the cave roof where she had fallen from. A light film of misty moisture clouded around the pods as they lay in their torpor. Her gaze suddenly came to a skeletal figure held up by the resinous excretions. The writing on the helm it still wore read Cowkiller. So this is the fate the poor lad suffered. His ribs were pointing outwards as if something had burst through. There was no flesh or skin on him. He had been eaten clean by the sickly creatures. She was about to turn her gaze from it in horror, when she noticed a bit of white paper by the skeletal figure's feet. Cautiously she approached it hoping no xenomorphs would recognise her trick and sneak up on her. Slowly she lifted it up and read its untidy scrawls...

_I should have fought back but I was too afraid. It cut open my legs so I wouldn't escape. It knew exactly how to cripple me. Oh well there's no point dwelling on it now. I just wish I got to say my last goodbyes to everyone. I wish I could say goodbye to Freebe. He and I were so close. A real pal to rely on in the corp. _

_Farewell world_

The edges of the paper were drenched in blood. How Cowkiller had managed to write it while his arms were still bound could be anyone's guess. Amber instinctively placed it in her pocket. If she escaped with Rhilian she'd present it to Freebe. It was the least she could do for the dead marine. A sudden fire burnt inside her... she wanted to hurry up and find Rhilian and get out of this accursed place.

She noticed only one corridor exiting the chamber she was in. At a brisk pace she moved into it and continued searching. After coming to a fork in her choices she randomly chose the left option. Right wasn't always right. She couldn't actually believe her luck when she saw Rhilian hanging from his imprisonment on the other side of the chamber. He was there and looked relatively unharmed... or so she thought. A lone drone quickly rushed past her as if it were urgently needed somewhere. It clearly didn't notice her human scent as it brushed past her. She heard its casual shriek some distance behind her as she strode up to her fiancé. There were several opened pods lying around the place. There was also a facehugger clear as rain several paces next to Rhilian looking menacing. Another facehugger was also present at Rhilian's feet. It was dead. Her eyes opened slightly in horror. Her fiancé had been hived.

The live facehugger remained unaware of Amber right up to the point where her heavy military boots thudded down hard on it. It let out a horrified shriek as it felt itself beneath the crushing weight. It was dead almost instantly. The brief cry awoke Rhilian. He looked horrible. His face was utterly pale as if he'd just given up more than three-quarters of his blood to charity. His eyes remained unfocussed as Amber kneeled in front of him.

"Rhil?" she barely whispered. His eyes slowly came to focus on her face.

"Amber?" he whispered back. Tears were forming in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" he queried almost definitely not knowing where here was. A sudden realisation seemed to hit him as his eyes widened slightly and he made choking noises. "Oh god... No... I've been hived." His voice sounded frantic and panicky. She calmly put a finger over his lips.

"I'm getting you out of here hun," she whispered with determination. Aggressively she tugged at the resin encrusting his legs and torso. She was horrified to behold behind the resinous layers as with Taytay both his legs were crippled.

"Go my love... I can't walk anymore. Please just go... be safe," he said softly tears now sparkling in his eyes.

"I'll carry you if I have to," she growled. Her resolve was taken away once again as she saw a long tear in Rhilian's torso. At any attempt to move the man it'd likely tear open further releasing his inners.

She stared for a time as disbelief attacked her mind. Her fiancé was going to die no matter what; either by moving him, or by hiving. He was well and truly screwed. Her sadness couldn't even produce tears as she stared at him. He tried to give at least a grim smile but it came out as a pained cringe.

"We die together," she said at last resting her head against his arm. He stroked her gooey hair before shaking calmly.

"No my love... Please just get out of here. I need someone to tell my family... our family what happened to me and the others. Don't let Weyland-Yutani get away with what they've done here..." he explained casually. She looked up at him with pained eyes.

"But... but..." She tried to find a counter but realised no one at home would understand what happened to them if they both died. The military would say MIA and move on. There'd be no peace for anyone if she didn't go back. A tear fell on her arm. Was it hers or Rhilian's? It didn't matter. Unsteadily she nodded.

The peace didn't last long as his body started convulsing for several seconds before dying down again.

"I don't want to die like this..." he said sadly. Amber looked at his hands unable to view the defeated look in his eyes. Rhilian knew he'd be asking a lot but he couldn't stop himself before he let his words out. "Don't let me die like this..." He immediately wished he said nothing. It made Amber look at him with even more pained eyes. How could he ask of that of her.

"I..." she whispered before tears welled up in her eyes and she froze like a statue.

"I'm sorry my dear... I'm so sorry... I had no right to ask it of you," he said softly feeling the shame of his request. "I just didn't want to go like Tim." Amber hadn't realised Tim had died. It was another pain added to so many already. How many could she handle before insanity gripped her like a vice.

"I'll do it..." she whispered slowly to herself as much to Rhilian. He stayed silent as she very slowly withdrew her pistol.

"I love you..." he said softly.

"I love you too," she replied then pulled the trigger. Rhilian died instantly.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty – Dishonour before Death

Dangles had felt the tremendous explosion associated with their wrist bombs. It was greatly saddening to know that one of his fellow brother Yautja had fallen. It was likely Jacky who chose death before dishonour as the explosion occurred in his hunting section. He, himself had been wounded tremendously as well, several human pellets to the chest and one skimmed the back of his unprotected cranium upon his retreat. Despite the weapons being so primitive themselves, they could still pack a punch. Dangles could feel several of the pellets resting inside him; it was unnerving and immensely discomforting.

The large wise Yautja had moved a safe distance from the human shuttlecraft. The men their scuttled around loathsomely, like insects capable of being crushed beneath his heavy greaves; though he had learnt something of their cooperation and teamwork even further. The original marine he had sliced with his disc was carried off last time, this time they actually put themselves at risk in saving him a second time. It was almost admirable if it wasn't so dishonourable. The pink and dark-skinned scourges were weak by themselves. Simple cattle for the slaughter... but when teamed into a herd even cattle could stampede its foes to the ground. A valuable lesson for Dangles.

The area he had chosen to recover was fairly open. The scree-slip behind the shuttlecraft provided the perfect vantage point at the cost of accessibility. He would need to go around again if he wished to collect more trophies from the humans. Several sheltering trees rested behind his recovering area. They provided excellent trophy-trees where he could store his rewards without their burdening weight. The first marine he had claimed trophy stared up at him blankly with hollow eyes. He was tempted to clean its flesh now as something to do while his wounds recovered but finding anymore motivation than that was hard. His body ached every time he moved and his head shrieked its agony from the glancing blow. A final decision weighted on him... it wasn't desirable and it hurt briefly more than the bullets could... it was the shards he carried.

Infused in plasma crystals there were miraculous healing powers for the Yautja race, an ancient discovery on their planet many millennia ago. These were mixed and packaged into an easy to use shard. The point sharpened to more than an insect stinger and the hilt easy to grip. Pulling the shard in two revealed two pointy tips; stabbing oneself with each shard would create a pain more substantial than any a Yautja could face. The plasma crystals liquidized and would flow into his body, rejuvenating muscle, organs, and even severed arteries in barely a second. The downside was the crystals latched onto nerve endings as well. Create an agonising stimuli for his body to convulse and shriek. Every single one of his ganglia would cry out in agony in the same second. If he didn't feel so crippled he'd prefer the rest option, but by the looks of the shuttle encampment, the humans were moving out, he'd need his strength now.

Reluctantly he pulled out one of the six shards he had packed. He never thought he'd ever need one, his skills and intelligence had become legendry at home. Yet here in a real hunt anything could happen, the slightest bit of rage or anger could make him lose control. He hadn't intended to smash the attacking human's skull with his helm but his rage fuelled his decisions. It was unwise but then every Yautja loses control sometimes... it was nothing out of the ordinary, Dangles reminded himself as he sat staring at the bluish vibrant medicine in his hand. So small and seemingly insignificant – yet it would make him shriek and cry out in more agony than anything else could. Quick and without mercy Dangles thought as he twisted the shard in two.

The points of each seemingly stared back malevolently as he readied them in front of his abdomen; softer tissue there he reminded himself. With a final sigh he thrust each point deeply into his gut. The original stab was manageable – simple injection. What followed next made him rigid and horrified. It was like his body was a city, and every one of its inhabitants cried out in terrified pain. Each muscle he bore tensed to the point of aching, his lungs inhaled deeply then froze, his eyes lulled into the back of his skull. Unconsciousness would not take him, he was in extraordinary pain yes, but Yautja could not black out from that. After an eternity of seconds latter his body tension died down to flaccidity. There was no doubt he was crying out during the ordeal, he didn't remember entirely, but the humans would have heard him. At that point he didn't care; he just never wanted to experience such torture ever again.

Slowly after a few seconds, he sat back up. The emptied shards were still inside his flesh. They were an ethereal transparent now. Carefully he inspected each one of his wounds. The bullets inside him were likely dissolved in the mixture and delivering useful chemicals to his fluorescent blood. The bullet wounds were back to normal scaly skin as was the glancing blow on the back of his head. He was in pristine shape and health once more. His clear-headedness came back quickly as he stared at the marines by the drop ship start moving onto the plain. They had finished with their packing and were now setting out. Some of them bore unconscious bodies of others. Likely from his cleverly placed mine. He suddenly longed to know how many he had slain in that blast. He may not be able to collect the likely crumbled trophies from them but he'd mark them on his bicep – above the knife wound the human leader had given him.

A sudden realisation dawned on Dangles as he thought on the hunt. He and his hunter brothers were given only three full rotations upon this planet. It had been two days and two nights already. His hunt ended when either that time was up or he had collected ten xenomorph trophies. He had collected but one xenomorph trophy, one human trophy and marked a further human upon his bicep... the one he had decapitated with his disc. Despite the threat the humans had on this sacred hunting ground he could not disobey the elder's orders; three cycles or ten serpent trophies... no excuses. He'd need to slay as many humans as he could before returning to his pod. He had the rest of the dying afternoon and the luxuriousness of night time before he was required to be at his pod. It automatically left the planet's surface whether he was in it or not. He wouldn't miss that ride.

With the renewed vigour of his strengthened body, Dangles leapt up with his blades extended. He would get as many trophies as possible before the day was through. In a final roar to reduce the morale of the humans below he leapt down the side path paralleling the scree cliff.

Break

Clayinator had felt completely awed by the serpent queen's presence. She was so immensely large and noble. Despite the obvious dangers presented before her she did not shriek in alarm or anger but rather calmly intimidated the humans with a single low hiss. Calling off her offspring from attacking the intruders was also a stroke of genius. In a scuffle many immature pods would have been damaged and perhaps the matriarch herself. Her decision to leave the humans and himself unharmed was wise and completely admirable.

He had retreated up another corridor looking for a way out of the immense hive. His original thoughts about the humans had been wrong. He suspected they were out to kill the matriarch but that was false. They had likely come out of some twisted honour or logic of their own to save their comrades from hiving. Whether they succeeded or not didn't interest him... only that he needed to start making his way back to his pod before the third cycle of his hunt had ended. He'd be left stranded on his infested planet with both serpents and humans if he wasn't on time. It wasn't exactly a daunting thought – he could hunt to his heart's content but then the elders would place a bounty upon his head. A renegade hunter with little thought of honour or the old-ways; he'd not become a treasonous swine.

Overall he had tallied ten serpent kills, that two was his requirement and limit in this hunt. It was why he did not strike the last attacker – the blackened one a fatal blow. An eleventh kill would be horrific in the eyes of his peers. Not so far as deserving the title of treacherous and dishonourable... but that he could not obey simple rules. He'd be welcome to stay in civilisation but no further hunts would be available. He could not dishonour himself in such a way. He'd disable a serpent if it tried to attack him perhaps – but he would not kill it.

While aimlessly wondering the vast resinous caves he did come across several more drones – he was surprised they hadn't smelt him from miles away. He was after all a Yautja – the ancient hunters of these creatures. Surely that'd be adapted to his smell by now. Yet they only darted backwards and forwards until the chamber he came to resided empty. It bore several maturing pods and several more resinous pillars. He very nearly walked to the other side of the chamber before realising the resinous ensnared victim on the wall was not actually human. Clayinator stood alarmed as he flicked his vision to normal rather than serpent-illuminating.

Looking subdued and breathing heavily was Jacky. His entire limb from his elbow was severed leaving a single messy fluorescent stump. Clayinator stared almost transfixed on his hunt brother with widened horrified eyes. Without a second pause he ran up to inspect his inners with his x-raying vision. A great sigh of relieve befall him. Jacky had not been hived yet. The ensnared Yautja gave a faded grunt before trying to level its unmasked face with Clayinator's. There was a long lasting silence between them after that moment. Clayinator almost felt like apologising as he withdrew a lone shard from his pouch. One of the only things a Yautja fears is the usage of such medicine... but it needed to be done. Jacky merely nodded as he braced himself for the penetration.

Clayinator had no mercy as he broke it in two then thrust each point deep into Jacky's unprotected abdomen. He looked away with a grim face as his hunt-brother first stiffened then convulsed involuntarily. If a Yautja could cringe then Clayinator did as he heard the immense bellows his hunt-brother released. Every serpent in the hive would hear his cries. Almost as quietly as it had begun, Jacky fell silent and his muscles loosened. Clayinator felt tremendously sorry for the hunter. He had almost been hived – he'd be ranted at by the elders for a good year before allowed back on a hunt... one armed.

In two big heaves Clayinator pulled the resinous prison away from his hunt-brother. With Jacky's face unconcealed behind a mask, he could see the expression of gratitude printed upon it. They spoke no words to each other – a simple nod was sufficient for both. The once fluorescent stump of Jacky's was now sealed over with scaly skin. Many hunters in the past had lost a limb in a hunt – they were easily replaceable with weapons or prosthetic limbs in turn. Without a second glance the two turned towards the exit on the other side of the chamber. Both Jacky and Clayinator had their ten trophies, both had completed their hunt; time to go home.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One – Hunt and grow the hive

Taytay had been rewarded with the praise of the queen for its successful capture of the human leader. It instinctively knew every path in the hive like the back of its claw. When the humans had gone up the one particular passageway away from its matriarch it knew exactly where to lay its ambush in the floor. It sat and waited until solely he passed. Then it leapt out in haste grabbed his legs and pulled him under away from any interfering comrades. It was an excellent catch. The queen recognised him as well – he had gestured some human communication at her then left with his men.

The battle to subdue the man hadn't been easy however, his pink flesh squirmed and kicked the entire way to his enclosure. One particular smack with his pulse rifle left a deep 'T' impression on its domed head but other than that it had him under control. Relentlessly, it knew his importance to the humans, so it clawed his abdomen and bit his legs until they were useless bits of dangling flesh. It didn't go so far as to kill the man – youth prefer life prey to emerge from, although if the host had died after impregnation there was still a chance a young hive-mate may still arise unscathed.

It had nestled into a nice comforting nook of a particular chamber for some rest and recuperation. There were no dangerous and hostile smells around and its mind was perfectly in sync with the hive mind. If there was danger it'd know of it well in advance. Several pods had opened in front of it. It smelt the youth arising expecting hosts to reside nearby to latch upon. It felt their avid disappointment when they smelt nothing but the emptiness of the vast chamber. They would likely set out on their own to find hosts – there were few enough lucky to find a host brought to them but this was not the chance this time.

A sudden cry in some particular members of the hive made Taytay squirm in discomfort as there was a realisation the hunter captured by the scarred one had escaped. The smell of the area indicated a second hunter had rescued the original. At first Taytay leapt to the resinous ground ready to pursue before the mind of the queen connected with hers ever so briefly.

_Rest, rejuvenate, we attack humans in darkness, rest, follow the scarred one when it is time_

Taytay found herself agreeing with the matriarch's decision. They would hunt the humans when the darkness of night fell upon the land. The scarred upon coupled with the blackened one would lead the charge. They'd be no praetorians this time; only warriors and drones. An attack made of stealth rather than assault.

It sat quietly and contentedly in its little nook for some time with its mind melded with the pursuers of the hunters. Their smell still remained attached the walls indicating their desired route. They were clearly trying to escape the hive. Dismay fell upon it as the drones and warriors paused to try catch the scent with the trail led outside into the fresh air. The large creatures had eluded them this time... but they'd not a second – especially if Taytay had anything to do with it.

Time flowed quietly and patiently as it always did as Taytay let her body heal the rough bruises it had sustained for the struggling host. It had found out its prey had died in captivity before the hatchling could emerge... but yet the little hive-mate within was still brewing nicely. It would burst through as expected as healthy as if its host were alive all the while. Eventually the time came where the scarred one leapt next to her in one graceful jump. It hissed its commands. Taytay was to follow it. The blackened one would lead a main assault on the retreating humans while the scarred one, Taytay and a select few others would come up the rear. Various drone scouts had discovered the humans were heading towards the compound again. The place had multiple tactically advantages for them – the humans would be great hosts.

Obediently it followed the scarred one along many small corridors, some were tight squeezes; others were large enough for a praetorian to fit through. The trip seemed long and winding. It knew exactly where it was going of course – the newly dug tunnel into the compound. It was what they had used in the first place to destroy the original group of humans. It connected with artificial structures the human had erected for ventilation. They had sealed their own doom unwittingly.

Eventually the scarred one and its own personal convey of minions that followed it arrived at the compound in the blessing sanctuary of night. Their sleek black bodies would merge in the darkness of human structures allowing perfect ambushes. Now all they needed to do was set up in suitable areas and wait for the humans themselves to arrive. The drones that stalked the group of humans that had left the crashed flying machine relayed constant messages to the scarred one's pack. The humans were excitingly near the compound with their typical weapons. They had paused multiple times to allow their weak to rest. Some had apparently been attacked by the hunters – they were currently unconscious.

The time came swiftly when the humans entered the compound. They were vigilant and packed into a tight-knit group. It would be difficult to separate them but not impossible. Taytay smelt them through the drone scouts nasal cavities. So powerful was the hive mind that one hive mate can use the senses of another to find prey. The scarred one had taken up a position in one particular room with its tail poised to strike. It would not go from a head shot – that'd kill valuable hosts instantly – no he'd stab their shoulders and arms – render their defensive abilities useless. Taytay, itself, had taken an ambush position near an artificial vent where if any came too near she'd launch out to grab their feet then pull them from salvation. It was all so exciting!

A sudden scent of a particular one such marine hit it like an alluring aroma of a hive-mate. Host smells were generally sweet and succulent. They were nearing the room where the scarred one was waiting with eager anticipation.

"Ah... just where they left it," one of the marines said. Taytay had no clue what it meant – had they spotted the ambush?

"Excellent, Aussiekanga, grab it and let's get out of here," another voice sounded. The scarred one had picked the perfect ambush point. Unsuspecting a human walked underneath the scarred towards a human artefact of some kind.

Look like its in good co..." the human said before the scarred one lashed its tail out. It collided roughly at the location where the neck meets the shoulder. The blow would be fatal if not healed quickly. The human fell to the ground in agony and horror. His weapon lay uselessly while he clutched at his wound.

There was a sudden uproar of noise as the humans growled out their frustration at the situation.

"Jesus what happened? One second he was up then he was on the ground!" one of them cried out in genuine terror.

"Must be one of those giant beasts and their active camo!" another yelled.

"Crusty get him out of there, we'll nade the room!" one said much calmer than the rest. Another man suddenly lurched forward to grab the original human who had been knocked to the ground. The scarred one expected it. It sliced its tail around in an arch. The blade of the tip of its tail hit the marine's wrist instantly slicing clean through it.

"Jesus Christ it's a xeno!" someone yelled out. The man named Crusty fell backwards clutching the stump where his hand was once connected.

Taytay smelt them pull back the second wounded man from harm's way – or so they thought. His legs resigned right in front of vent where it resided. Slowly Taytay shuffled forward where claws extended. There was only a brief shriek of help as it managed to claim its prey. With the swiftness typical of their species, Taytay wrenched the man roughly into the vent. His cries and the cries of others let off the alarm; time to start the ambush. With that, the assault began. The blackened one lurched forward with the minute army under its command. In one foul swoop the humans would be surely swallowed. Taytay grabbed the captive in its grip and slammed the back of his skull three times on the hard metallic surface. Once sure of his unconscious state it proceeded to drag its prey back to the hive.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two – Let 'em have it!

It had gone from bad to worse in less than a few minutes. They had navigated the compound effectively and easily until the one obstacle of the room remained. They needed to get in there and retrieve the pump but as soon as anyone tried a filthy xenomorph would send slices down with its barbed tail. One man was bleeding profusely inside the room already and no one could reach him, while another had his hand cut off entirely – in thinking to keep him safe they put him at the back of the group yet another xenomorph was waiting in the ventilation shaft. He was taken with very little fight... poor Crusty Kickass.

The corridor they were in was ill-lit and the darkness from the night outside was not helping matters. They heard screeches and cries of the black creatures that dismayed all of them. They felt boxed in and cramped. The noises were getting closer and closer. At last Smashington decided he needed to get things done properly before they were all consumed in a xenomorph wave. He took three steps back then leapt off into a sprint towards the room with his shotgun ready to destroy the ghastly creature. At the last second he jumped and spun aiming his shotgun upwards. He'd land on his back and it'd be painful but hopefully he'd get a good shot in.

The creature inside was scarred across its domed head. It had moved slightly from where Smashington expected it to be but none the less he fired his weapon in its general direction. He only heard it shriek in pain and annoyance as he collided roughly to the ground. It was a rough painful collision but it did the trick. When he looked up with both his face and torch the creature was gone. All that was left to indicate a xenomorph had ever been there was a minute amount of acid blood splattered on the wall.

Seeing the way was clear the other marines leapt into the room brandishing their firearms threateningly.

"Excellent Smash, let's get the pump and get out of here," Falcon suggested as he bolted forward to it. Aussiekanga was issued a stim by Angus while Mace lifted Bravo leader to his feet. Exo slowly walked in afterwards while carrying Stealth on his shoulder. The man was muscled and strong yet still showed signs of fatigue with sweat upon his brow. Silbern wobbled in next nursing his left hand. The man had been unconscious for sometime after the hunter's planted explosion. The blast had torn away several of his fingers of his left hand. Only his thumb, forefinger and middle ring remained. Now he was awake once more but not seemingly capable of dealing with having lost such important small parts of his being.

Adrian had also reawaken and was still outside staring sadly and angrily into the vent where Crusty had been whisked away so violently and quickly.

"Where's Trevinator!" Falcon suddenly queried with horror creeping on his face. Everyone looked around themselves before realising Crusty was the one who had been carrying him. No one else even noticed earlier as Trevinator's unconscious body was whisked away by one particular sneaky greedy alien.

Smashington instinctively rushed towards the door to see if Trevinator was still lying unconscious. To his disappointment there was nothing but dust and broken glass. The screeches around the compound grew louder and closer. Before Smashington could act two xenomorphs launched past the startled marine into the room. One went down instantly as Tyranus shotgunned it mid-flight. The other latched onto the roof with relative ease before running around slicing its long tail in an arc. Smashington instinctively slammed the door as he heard more aliens making their way towards them. The top of Falcon's shoulder was cut open before Adrian managed to shoot the remaining xenomorph down.

Exo and Mace went to help Falcon up when the thuds against the door came. By the sounds of it the creature's were throwing their full force against it. How long could reinforced metal hold against such violent collisions?

"Barricade any openings!" Smashington heard himself yell. The unwounded men did not need to be told twice. Without hesitation they were throwing desks and chairs up against ventilation shafts. Soon they were in locked tightly in the room with no possible exits.

Soon the walls became lively with shrieks and scampering as the xenomorphs searched for alternative entrances to their prey.

"How persistent are these things?" Adrian whispered. The original group of marines grimaced... this situation was all too familiar from their first encounters with these beasts.

"They don't stop. They rotate and take turns until eventually they break down anything that's between you and them," Un4Seen explained with wide eyes. The thudding grew more intense against the large reinforced door – it was already starting to show signs of stress.

"Guess we got to hold out until Rhilian's group gets to us," Smashington advised. Several marines looked at each other with darkened expressions. Everyone knew there was virtually no chance Rhilian's group still lived. They were on their own, they were trapped, it was effectively... game over.

As suddenly as it begun the tremendous thuds against the door stopped leaving only the unnerving scratching in the walls.

"Reinforce that door," Tyranus growled. There was very little material to perform such a task but the marines managed to pry lose an overhead metal tube from the ceiling. The alien seemed to have dislodged it while scampering about. Smashington aligned one point directly with the centre of the door while aligning the other point into a groove in the floor. It would have to do for the time being while they discussed possible plans of action.

"Ammo count," Smashington yelled before anyone could ask what next.

Soon every man inspected their cache of ammunition left. It was direly low especially for the situation they were in. The sudden realisation that they relied on Rhilian's group to survive dawned on them more than one way. The darkness of the room and the unreliable torch lights mounted on their shoulders added to the already dreary atmosphere. The scampering around them appeared to be below, in the walls and in the ceiling. They couldn't help but feel like a rabbit stuck in its hole. If it dared make an escape it'd be seized by hungry jaws.

"Right then... Nothing to do but wait," Falcon groaned, feeling the slice on his shoulder.

"Guess we're not going anywhere... I'll take first watch with someone, you guys take a rest," Angus suggested. Silbern, despite his recent injuries, stood up brandishing a pulse rifle in his undamaged hand.

"I'll join you," he merely whispered.

"You seriously think we can sleep?" Aussiekanga groaned from his horizontal positioning.

"Well if you can... Was referring more to getting some rest," Angus corrected. "Needn't be shuteye."

Angus positioned himself in front of the door while Silbern guarded the blockaded ventilation where the original tailing alien likely escaped through.

"Aye call me when I'm on gentlemen. I'm off to a place where there are ladies trying to get a piece of me, not xenos," Tyranus said simply before finding a comfortable spot on the ground and allowing welcomed sleep to claim him.

"Don't know how he can do that..." Un4Seen muttered.

"Do you think we'll get out of here Sarge?" Adrian looked over to Smashington with large adolescent-like eyes. Smashington held back the urge of a grimace.

"I don't know marine... I know one thing for certain. Those things are going to have a hard time getting to us. Even if they do break through – we're not going down without a fight!" he roared. The room agreed with a "hoorah!" Despite Tyranus's sleep he murmured a "hoorah" as well.

"I miss home... But now without Crusty I don't know how I could ever go back. I promised his family I'd protect him... I mean he could look after himself but... but oh goddamn it," Adrian started before gulping back suppressed tears. "But I mean we were going to look out for each other. We joined up together, we were going to fight together... now... now he's..." Adrian whimpered before turning away so the other marines couldn't see the small stream of tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Even more important now Adrian is making back to tell Crusty's family he in the field of battle... what's worse than knowing your loved one is dead is not knowing... You can put them at ease... allow them to move on so to speak," Aussiekanga piped up despite the pain he was suffering. "I know if I didn't make it, I'd want one of you to tell my wife what happened to me... May not be glamorous but I couldn't hack it if she continued to cling to false hope," he paused and rubbed at the wound uncomfortably. "I'd want her to carry on – move on. Find a life she could be happy in without me." The listening marines nodded their heads in agreement.

The scampering near the barricaded ventilation opening grew significantly before dying down again. The loathsome beasts were likely attempting to find the weakest points of entry... no options were desirable for them.

"What about you sarge, You're from New Zealand right? What you got waiting for you?" Aussiekanga asked more to distract him from his pain than anything else.

"Me aye? I've got my family awaiting me, I look forward to fishing with my pa, and talking with my ma again." Several of the marines smiled and nodded their head.

"Nice and simple... I always wanted that kind of life. Fishing with dad and my brother. Coming home to mum and sis's home meals, my kinda paradise," Un4Seen whispered from his parked spot.

"Got family back home there Un4Seen?" Smashington asked with genuine interest.

"Somewhat... I doubt they'll even remember me these days. I haven't been home in over seven years... Military keeps me busy, not that I'm complaining. I chose this life – I wouldn't change anything if I could go back," he asked with a smile.

"Not even this mission?" Adrian suddenly piped up through his silent tears. Un4Seen laughed then looked at Mace, Exo then Angus and finally Tyranus.

"These boys are the closest I've got to a family these days. I wouldn't skip going on this mission if it meant leaving these guys to go alone. Even if I do die... I died in good company," he concluded. Mace threw him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Well said brother," the man praised.

There was a minor silence as a particularly loud shriek made nearly everyone except Tyranus jump in fright. The particular sound almost seemed inside the room yet it was just a trick of sound bouncing off the walls. After a few seconds they resumed their settling conversations.

"Aye... Us lads are pretty much all we have left," Mace explained as he threw a companionship arm around Exo who begrudgingly accepted it with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah... Pig here always needs his back watched by his family!" Exo laughed as Mace pushed at him playfully.

"Only when I'm watching your back," Mace retorted.

"Well least we're in good spirits... Who's keen on some snacks?" Smashington said withdrawing some remnant jerky strips from his pack. If he were going to die shortly – he'd die on a full stomach.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three – Our boys are in there!

The trip back to the crashed shuttlecraft was relatively uneventful. Every now and then a distant shriek from a scouting drone would remind the marines that they weren't out of danger yet. The grassy plains were growing darker with the fading sunlight. The distant scree-slip behind the shuttlecraft became visible after several hours of walking.

The depressing situation of Amberjinx and Rhilian weighed heavily on the group as they walked. Only Yurtsin seemed relatively unaffected by Alpha leader's capture and Amber's hysterical behaviour.

"I should have stopped her," Punisher whispered to himself at last. His face resembled a man who had lost everything. Freefall grimaced and patted his friends shoulder comfortingly.

"Wasn't your fault man. She wasn't herself. Love and death do strange things to people," he said hoping Punisher would brighten up. Morale for the whole group was at an all time low.

"I know but I promised Rhilian. I said I'll keep her safe," Punisher continued rubbing his hand through his hair.

"He wasn't to know how she'd act mate, he wouldn't fault you for it," Webcke piped up still looking white as a sheet.

The conversation stopped abruptly as they neared the deserted shuttlecraft. Several shoddy graves had been made on the periphery of the area.

"Where are they?" Freebe asked no one in particular.

"Shit. Move marines!" Punisher growled and leapt off into a controlled sprint. Jaze and Freebe had taken over for Webcke and Malice in carrying the unconscious marines. Just before entering the site everyone froze in bewilderment and worry. Several stacked boxes had human blood on it while the area in front of the actual shuttle had a recent scorch mark.

"Over here!" Malice yelled as it picked up a small note. Punisher hastily grabbed the note from him to scan the details.

"Oh thank Christ." He sighed with relief as Webcke took the parchment.

_We've a plan to escape this planet. We'll be heading to the compound to retrieve the some important equipment then we're heading back to the shuttlecrafts: Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. We'll be siphoning fuel from Delta and Echo. It will hopefully be enough to get into range of communication with command. Best hurry._

_Smash_

"Smash is fine!" Webcke exclaimed in happiness. Slowly each conscious marine took a look at the note before collapsing on the ground in wariness. Punisher and Freefall stayed standing as they thought of the next best plan of action.

"Its getting dark Freefall... Should we camp out tonight and go first thing in the morning?" Punisher queried looking clearly undecided.

"Note says best hurry. Ten minute break and then head out I say," Freefall advised with a shrug.

"Aye. Good idea... Break for ten marines. Ammo count, see to Meatloaf and Jackson," Punisher roared his orders. Each man did them willingly while Yurtsin stood vacantly near the crashed shuttlecraft.

Meatloaf and Jackson were laid softly on the ground near the scorch mark while the others started to eat and casually chat. Everyone instantly jumped up and grabbed their weapons as one of the facehuggers, which was latching onto Meatloaf, fall from his face clearly dead.

"Shit... check his pulse," Freefall growled with a hint of worry present. Webcke leapt to action before Jaze or Freebe could move. Carefully he pressed his fingers to the marine's neck. His face lightened slightest as relief took him.

"He's still alive. Though we need to get the thing inside him out asap." Everyone looked around uncomfortably before Jaze spoke up.

"The pods." Everyone turned to stare at him. "The shuttle pods. If they're in hibernation before they burst maybe if we get back home they can surgically remove those things," he finalised.

"Good plan Jaze. Alright closest shuttle is Charlie. We'll drop Jackson and Meatloaf off there first then go to Smash," Punisher decided looking suddenly confident.

"Bah... But I hate those freakin' cold things!" Meatloaf grunted out of his torpor.

"Meaty!" Webcke cried out in delight as the marine he was near cradling pushed him away and sat up.

"Give me a beer!" he growled looking unimpressed.

"Don't have any mate," Freefall said shrugging. Several of the marines chuckled weakly at Meatloaf's disgruntled face.

"Like hell! Freebe open your pack," Meatloaf grunted before attempting to stand. He fall back down quickly as Freebe did as he was told.

Everyone stared in wonder first at Freebe as he withdrew several cans from his pack looking completely bewildered.

"How?" was all he managed to say before Malice burst into genuine laughter.

"That will never get old," he cried out joyously.

"Careful mate, take it slow. You've still got one of those things inside you," Webcke whispered suddenly realising Meatloaf's unlikely chances.

"Inside me? Bah it didn't even buy me a drink," he snarled before pushing himself up again. This time he caught his balance before toppling over. "Where's Rhil? He has the other pack of goodies." There was an abrupt silence as everyone looked at their feet.

"Dead..." the voice was feminine and sounded utterly depressed. Everyone twisted quickly to stare at its origin.

"Amber!" Punisher exclaimed in wonder.

Everyone was silent for a time while Amber stared sadly at her feet; tears welling up in her eyes. Finally Meatloaf broke the silence with surprising sympathy in his voice.

"What happened? How did he die?"

"Those things got him," Webcke whispered a reply.

"No... no it wasn't them. Well they tore him up bad... but he asked me to..." she paused and took a big breath of air before continuing. "He asked me to give him a decent..."

"Death..." Malice finished her sentence for her. She nodded with tears flowing freely down her cheeks now.

"Oh Amber I'm so sorry," Punisher said cautiously approaching her. Before he had time to be intimidated she collapsed into his arms sobbing uncontrollably.

"Fuck this, we've lost too many good men. Break over. We're going home gentlemen..." Freefall yelled. "And lady," he added while looking at Amber's convulses as tears dripped to the scorched ground.

At knowing there was a high possibility their comrades were still alive it gave them renewed stamina. Meatloaf brushed off any attempts of aid as Malice and Webcke continuously offered their shoulders to lean on. Punisher stood by Amber's side watching her like a weary bird watches a circling hawk. Freefall pointed left right and centre issuing commands as the barely rested men jumped to obey them.

"So then... first stop Charlie?" Freebe queried whilst keeping a critical eye on Meatloaf's wobbly gait.

"Correct, we'll put Jackson and Meaty in the pods and then find Smash and the others. On me marines." Freefall finished and leapt off into a brisk pace.

Everyone followed in a close cluster keeping their weapons high and their eyes focussed. Jaze gave a final glimpse at the destroyed shuttlecraft. It proved to be a valuable place to hide out in. He felt a lump in his throat as he looked away. He hoped he'd never have to rely on hiding from blackened beasts and dreadlocked neanderthal-like monsters again. Soon conversation died down to an eerie silence in the darkness. Unlike on earth the lack of artificial lights made all the stars twinkle brightly above. Some constellations looked oddly familiar to ones you could see from Earth, while others completely foreign.

Soon the small battalion had to rely on their drained torches for light. The distant gloomy silhouette of the compound could be seen easily but if anything between them and the compound had half a talent for stealth, in the growing darkness, they'd not likely be seen until it was too late. The alien planet had three small orbiting moons. A red iron-based one, a bluish-green gas-based one, and a highly impacted moon similar to Earth's. Each could be seen on this night spaced apart across the sky. If the surrounding settling wasn't so unnerving it'd be a glorious view.

Part way through the journey Punisher took over for Jaze in carrying Jackson while Webcke stayed closeby to Meatloaf. The juggernaut of a man continued to keep pace with the rest of the group despite what had recently befallen him. Amber's silent sobs had ceased but glistening flows of tears could still be seen on her cheeks reflecting the illuminiscent stars.

"So Meaty..." Malice started.

"Hmph?"

"You ever going to tell us how you manage to smuggle so much alks into everyone's pack without them ever realising it?" There was a brief pause as Meatloaf considered it but then slowly shook his head.

"I'm a god Malice... lets just leave it as that. If I'm going to burst let me die with some mystery!" the large man said smirking.

"You're not going to burst mate," Webcke sternly informed.

"Either way you're not knowing," he finalised. Suddenly Punisher flinched and let out an alarmed cry as Jackson's facehugger fell from his face.

"I... I will find... if its the..." the croaked voice of Jackson started and then faded again. Malice eyes grew wide at seeing Jackson's half slitted eyes struggle to stay open.

"Oh Jackson bro... How are you feeling!" he cried out supporting the near-unconscious marine's bobbing head.

"Feels... hggh... like I've drunk a litre of tobasco... ergh... and eaten a kilogram of wasabi," he managed to choke out.

"Go back to sleep bro. You're going to be alright. We've got a plan... just rest now," Malice whispered holding but the sudden urge to release tears.

"You'd bett..." Jackson started then fell limp into unconsciousness.

"Let's hurry this up marines," Freefall pressed.

Following the brief consciousness Jackson showed, the marines started off again on a trot. Charlie's shuttlecraft was near the facility. And likely less than five minutes away from where they were. They were fortunate not to run into any ambushing xenomorphs or cloaked predators as they hurried along. Soon they were at the ramp of Charlie's smooth-gray shuttlecraft. Jackson seemed to slip back between consciousness and unconsciousness. Punisher authorized the access code to lower the ramp while the marines and Yurtsin stood waiting. It was painfully loud in the dead silent night. Each marine prayed the noise would not bring unwanted guests.

After the ramp was lowered and the lights began to flicker awake on the shuttle, the marines hurried to get the near life-less Jackson into the hybernation pod.

"I'm telling you... no Taylor... fuck off. God damn you're..." he cried out to no one in particular before falling into unconsciousness again.

"Taylor? Does he mean Taytay?" Punisher wondered outloud. Malice shook his head sadly.

"No he's delirious... Taylor is his sister," the maori marine explained.

"Be safe marine," Freefall saluted as the lid of the hibernation pod slowly lowered over Jackson's quivering body.

"Sleep well friend," Malice added. There was a final tsk noise as the lid shut and immediately everything inside frosted over. The thick glass lid fogged up immediately obscuring Jackson from view.

"Alrighty Meaty bro, your turn," Webcke said taking his comrade by the arm.

"Bah... I'm fine you bunch of pansies. Let me go Jake," Meatloaf grunted and pried his arm free from Webcke's grip. "I don't need to go in no stupid pod yet. I'll jump in once we've got Smash and the rest of them lil' girls." Punisher and Freefall simultaneously let out a groan.

"If we order you in marine, will you go?"

"You can court martial me, tell my mother I was disobedient, or god forbid take away my beer... but there is no way I'm getting in that pod until every one of you and the others are safe. Call me old-fashioned but no man left behind," he growled. Everyone took a few steps back. Webcke let out a dismayed sigh.

"If you burst I'm going to fuck up what's left of you so bad," he growled fiercely.

"Bah, and I bet I'll still be able to give you a hiding."

The stress of getting Jackson to the pod in time died down slowly as everyone took a seat on the extended ramp.

"Alright, Jackson's safe for now. Next plan of action... we meet up with the rest in the compound. Logic put that down and get your pulse," Punisher growled as Logic fiddled with a small flare gun.

"Aye sir." Everyone looked grim as they watched the ramp slowly close up the shuttlecraft again. They all hoped Jackson would not be attacked while they were away. But it couldn't be helped, likelihood was every man would be needed.

"Let's regroup and move out."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four – Nice knowing you boys

Falcon awoke with a start as he felt something lightly brush across his shoulder. Standing above him was Angus, the sniper for the originally marooned marines. He lifted his right hand back from Falcon's shoulder while keeping his left finger on his mouth.

"Shh, don't be loud. Almost everyone's managed to get to sleep." His whisper was barely audible. Falcon nodded his understanding and sat up. With a tired yawn, he stretched his arms out until two surprisingly loud cracks sounded. Angus gave him an annoyed expression.

"It's your lookout this time. Was meant to be Tyranus's but I think he's still recovering. The swelling in his face is down but still looks pretty nasty," Angus continued as he pried his sniper from a shoddy strap on his back and placed it on a nearby desk. "You'll be on with Adrian. Watch the lad... he'd been brooding." Falcon nodded again and used his Pulse-rifle as a walking stick to help himself up.

The room was littered with tired and sleeping marines. Smashington lay curled in a corner clutching his shotgun as though it were a teddy bear. Un4Seen murmurred slightly something about a fish and oil. Exo and Mace were still up sitting opposite each other holding a somewhat mangled deck of cards clearly missing half of what was supposed to be there. Angus had laid down fearlessly near the blockaded ventilation. Silbern was also awake looking sadly over Stealth's horrific burns despite being down two fingers. The badly singed marine had passed away an hour earlier from his plasma-induced wounds. Tyranus hadn't moved from the place where he had first fallen sleep. His snoring echoed around the room but no one seemed at all fazed by it. Aussiekanga's bloodflow had stopped but he still looked incredibly sickly and pale. He was also in a deep sleep.

Carefully Falcon stepped around the littered bodies of the marines to take a seat next to Adrian. The lad had dark blue circles under his bloodshot eyes.

"How you doing bud?" Falcon heard himself ask. Adrian merely shook his head sadly and then focussed on the barred door ahead. Falcon let out a sigh and gave Adrian a soft pat on the shoulder.

"Understandable... Crusty was a good friend to us all. When we get off this god forsaken planet we'll drink to his memory and tell tales of the good days," the sympathetic marine said. Adrian didn't move but rather kept his focus on the door ahead. Falcon took that as he should shut up.

The roof, the floor and the walls hadn't had any noises in them for a fair while but Falcon knew that was probably just a trick. The blackened monsters were much cleverer than they looked. They were likely letting the marines think they were safe. Then when they tried to escape they'd be ambushed. Falcon let out another grieved sigh. He hadn't the faintest clue what to do from here. They were effectively in a checkmate position on a board. If Rhilian's squad really had perished in the hive then it was game over. Without realising it he let melanchony take over his thoughts.

It was over an hour later before something truly took Falcon's attention. Everyone else except Adrian and him had managed to find some solace in sleep. The radio issued to Trevinator a fair while ago suddenly burst into life. However the noise it resonated was not coming from the room but rather the pipe lines above.

"Master Sargent Ty..." Then came static, "we're c..." then there was a sudden thump and silence filled the room. No one but Adrian and Falcon appeared to have heard it.

"That... that sounded like Punisher," Falcon said looking bewildered. "My god! That was Punisher!" he echoed again much louder. Several marines sprung awake at his loud joyous voice.

"What? What's going on Falcon?" Smashington queried looking significantly more tired than earlier.

"Punisher sir! I just heard Punisher's voice on the... I think it was the radio," he said looking estatic. Slowly more marines woke up to the comotion. Adrian nodded is head frantically.

"I heard it to sir." Smashington tilted his head in confusion.

"Punisher? Wait who has the radio then?" he asked looking around.

"Trevinator had it sir... before he was... but I heard the words in the pipes above us. I swear it," Falcon explained. Smashington nodded absently to himself.

"Aye. That's excellent news indeed. But we have no way to communicate back." Tyranus finally awoke looking unfocussed and dazed.

"How about an old-fashioned... Help we're in here!" Angus said rubbing his left eye of grit.

"Worth a try."

Everyone seemed to gain some energy at the possibility of rescue. People stood up and stretched while eagerly anticipating outside noise from possible marines. For a time there was only daunting silence and the occasional scrape of metal above them. As the room began to lose hope again a distant voice coming from the blockaded ventilation renewed their spirits.

"Hello? Anyone still alive?" The voice sounded like Webcke's. A sudden realisation hit Smashington. If their rescue were ambushed by the same set of aliens awaiting them they'd be screwed anyway.

"We have to go to them Tyranus. They'll be ambushed if we stay here," he cried out to the once more silent room. The master sargent nodded in agreement and picked up his shotgun.

"Alright everyone get ready to rush the door... Soon as its open – scream make as much noise as possible and follow me," he commanded. "Oh and Mace grab the pump. Let's not forget about that."

"Yes Master Sargent," simultaneous cries followed.

Everyone got their weapon at the ready as they stood near the barricaded door. Some were shaking violently in anxiety and fear. Most were ready and glad to get out of the confining room.

"On my count. One, two, three!" Tyranus roared. Smashington threw the blocking pole aside and wrenched the door open. Like a stampede of maddened beasts, the marines shouted and roared as they flooded out the room. It was deafening. Tyranus took a right instantly, hoping the way was clear of xenomorphs. Surprisingly the entire area looked deserted. Their hopes of a quick getaway were ruined as several angry cries started to echo the marine's war charge. In what appeared very little time claws and tails started whipping out every crevice in the direction of passing marines. Aussiekanga received another slice to his leg as a tail cut cross his path. Falcon caught the marine before he could stumble forward, and forced him onwards.

"Oh sweet Jesus, Exo take it. Tell my arghhh..." Mace screamed out as he threw the pump in Exo's direction. Two xenomorphs on opposite walls of the corridor had lunged outwards and grabbed either of Mace's legs. He pumped several rounds at the aggressing aliens. They screamed dying cries before letting him go. Exo turned to help him but the man growled at him to keep going.

Angus used his sniper to pump off rounds into the walls when he saw xenomorph outlines through his scope. It temporarily cleared the way for the still surging marines. Hope grew as they saw the unhinged door at the end of the corridor. It led straight out into the courtyard. Mace's footsteps slowed then stopped. When Exo turned around a horrific scene greeted his eyes. Three aliens had forced their way out the ventilation shafts and were just behind Mace. The marine was breathing hard and looked badly wounded from the previous attack.

"Keep... keep goi..." he stopped and started gargling. Exo couldn't force his eyes away as his friend's eyes turned dull. A barbed tail had appeared through his mouth covered in blood. It had been stuck in Mace's posterior and wrenched all the way through his body and out through his mouth. The display was sickening. Exo temporarily dropped the pump to fire a single grenade behind Mace's crumbling body. It ricocheted off a piece of metal then exploded. Cries of xenomorphs were instantly cut off in the explosion.

"Mother fuckers... don't worry Mace... I've avenged you brother," he cried out then turned with the pump in his arms again and took off down the corridor after the others.

Angus was the first out of the door after clearing the way for the marines. He was immediately seized by a large blackened claw. Tyranus cried out in horror as he witnessed his company's sniper wiggling in pain like a worm in a bird's clutches.

"Oh not like this..." Angus whispered to himself as the claw tightened. Tyranus shot several rounds from his shotgun at the immense praetorian's crested head as he heard his comrade's ribcage crunch under the pressure. Each bullet ricocheted off harmlessly.

"Angus! Oh you piece of black shit!" Tyranus cried out angrily and charged forward. Before he got anywhere near, the colossal creature backhanded the alpha sargent whilst still clutching Angus's now lifeless body. The marine went flying into the compound wall and then slouched there.

"Jesus maryin' christ!" Falcon whimpered at seeing Tyranus's unconscious body laying feebly against the wall.

The praetorian hissed aggressively then throw the mangled sniper in its clutches at the remaining marines. Like a well aimed bowling ball, everyone was send reeling to the ground. They realised now how well and truly screwed they were. More xenomorphs were pouring in from behind them while the titan-like praetorian towered over them in the front. It took several prolonged steps forward toward the cowering marines.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food... motherfucker?" the familiar voice of Malice said behind the immense beast. Before it had time to turn around Several pulse-rifle sounds echoed. A stream of bullets all whistled into one point in the praetorian's back. The area cracked under the onslaughted then gave way completely. Malice immediately took his chance and launched forward. Rather awkwardly he grabbed the spines on the beast's back as he withdrew a unloaded pulse-rifle grenade from his belt.

"Wha-Chah!" he said as he slammed the grenade into the sickly bubbling hole. "Loka now!" he cried as he leapt off and rolled away safely.

A single well-aimed bullet whistled through the air seemingly slowing time around it. It smashed directly into the embedded grenade in the praetorian's back. After a small dull pause the grenade exploded tearing a sizeable portion of the praetorian's mid-section away. It let out a whimper higher than a pubescent boy before toppling over in Malice's direction. The maori marine leapt aside just in the nick of time.

"Get out of there!" Freefall's voice commanded at the group of awe-struck marines still laying on their backs.

Adrian rushed over and threw Tyranus's muscled body over his shoulder. While the rest made room for the rescuing marines.

"Burn bitches!" Freebe cawed as he unleashed a stream of fiery oil into the corridor once everyone was clear. The sound of popping and horrified xenomorph squeals filled its confines.

"Anyone up for a barbeque?" Webcke said standing behind Freebe with a grin.

"Oh jesus!" Freebe cried out as one particularly close alien exploded in the flames. Blackened flesh in the form of sizzling shrapnel flew out the corridor coating Freebe and Webcke.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Webcke cried as he danced about trying to rip off his combat armour. Freebe lay on his back with a generous portion of xenoflesh sizzling on his forehead. Smashington immediately brushed it off and threw the unconsious marine onto his shoulder.

"Rhilian we've got to get out of here!" he growled looking around for alpha squad leader. "Rhilian?" Punisher and Freefall shook their head silently while a distant Amberjinx released another few tears down her cheeks.

"Shit well we need to get out of here. Exo pass that to Jaze," bravo leader ordered. Exo looked a bit unsure until Jaze put his hand up.

While the remaining xenomorphs were squealing and crying, the marines dashed out the courtyard following Smashington.

"We need to get to Delta and Echo squad's shuttles. They've got barrels we can fill out with. Then we're getting off this god-forbidden planet," he explained while as a jog.

"Yes sir!" were his response.

While they ran towards possible salvation, invisible eyes stared after them with wristblades extended. Crackling mandibles whispered to the air.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five – Of Robots and Men

Yurtsin reevaluated the situation over and over again. These blasted marines just kept escaping death no matter how he subtly manipulated them into dangerous moments. If an android could be frustrated he would be exploding with it. His orders were to scope out the Pioneer Seven case and assassinate the old captain to prevent bad publicity. These xenomorph and yautja planets were to be kept under wraps until further notice. Weyland-Yutani corporation had encountered many of these worlds before but generally the marines didn't last long enough to worry about... thats why androids were invaluable – a recent upgrade filled their piping with extremely diluted xenomorph blood – this made the androids as indistinguishable as the next xenomorph to their peers. It allowed the androids to observe without taking considerable unprofitable damage.

Pioneer Seven was meant to set up a base of operations and await further instructions from the head of the company. But alas the captain appeared too head strong and ordered excavations. While, indeed, xenomorphs were already in warrior and drone form on this planet without the aid of humans, they likely would not have been so aggressive if the human's hadn't dug into their hive. A foolish mistake that now Yurtsin had to rectify.

The first thing he needed to do was eliminate his accompanying marines through whatever means necessary. They knew far too much and could bring bad publicity to Weyland-Yutani. Bad publicity means bad profit. He already knew how he'd go about his first task though. They would be siphoning fuel from the Delta shuttlecraft and then moving on to the Echo one. It was there he would ignite the cannisters and take as many of the marines as possible. His internal titanium thermal plating would protect him from such a blast while obliterating both the chances of the marine's escape and likely the marine's themselves. Then task two would be to take the impregnated marine Jackson back to HQ for examination. With no marines left to bother him he could siphon from shuttlecraft Alpha and Bravo if need be... then again he could survive the journey in standby mode and just allow the shuttle to glide back home – marine's wouldn't likely survive such an option – inferior primates.

The group of marines accompanied by Yurtsin were at a rather fatigued jog. He didn't feel any weariness or aching of the joints... what would be the point of making an android with human weaknesses?

"Yurtsin I'll need you to watch over Freebe, Tyranus and Aussiekanga while we're extracting the fuel," bravo leader's commands rung out above the sound of boots thumping against the ground.

"As you wish." The night around them was deathly quiet. Although behind them flames licked up the side of the compound. Somehow the flamethrower had managed to ignite something flameable and now the entire building was smothered in it. It didn't bother Yurtsin, soon he'd be away from this infested planet giving his reports.

The silhouetted shuttlecraft stood proudly on the top of a grassy knowl with distant trees far behind it. These particular ones seemed far enough from the yautja's cataclysmic explosion to remain standing. It took very little time for the now struggling marines to get to their first of the two stops. Once there the marines efficiently went to the task, obviously driven on by the hope of seeing home again... poor wretches.

The unconscious marines Tyranus and Freebe were laid near the back of the shuttlecraft followed by Falcon who escorted a particularly sick looking Aussiekanga. Yurtsin stared emotionlessly at the three he would be babysitting. Falcon nodded then went back to join the others. Alone with three helpless marines... this would be a cake walk. He smiled to himself... well as much as any android can smile to anything. Slowly he placed his powerful but thin metallic arm over Aussiekanga's throat.

"I'm... I'm fine dude... No need to check my pul..." Snap. Yurtsin applied more force than was needed to do the job but was satisfied with the outcome nonetheless. The sickly marine was dead almost instantly without even the chance to call for help. The next second alarmed Yurtsin as he realised the previously unconscious marine Freebe was now watching him with wide horrified eyes.

"What the fuck are you doi...!" the marine started before Yurtsin whipped up Aussiekanga's pistol and delivered a single shot to the startled marine's forehead. He crumbled back down with blood leaking from the wound. Two down... before he had a chance to do anything more he heard frantic running towards him. Quickly he forced the weapon into Aussiekanga's hand and put on his best human horrified, startled look... it was an effort.

They came as a mass cluster brandishing their weapons the same way a child carelessly holds a watergun.

"Jesus Freebe! No!" Jaze cried out, echoed by most of the others. Yurtsin initated a shaking protocol.

"I... I... It just... It just happened so fast. Freebe looked a bit better and got up. Before I knew what was going on Aussiekanga started ranting about a monster was going to get him. He pulled out the pistol and shot the lad. Then he turned it onto me... I... I don't know what happened I just lashed out in fright I guess... I... I," Yurtsin babbled with an inner glorified smile. He knew he was believable... already the marines were giving sympathetic yet horrified expressions.

"Oh the poor bastard must have lost it!" Lokamatoka said looking grim.

"Surprised we all haven't gone nuts yet," Punisher commented.

"Fuck! What are we going to do about Freebe... and Aussie? They're both dead," Freefall queried feeling both of their necks.

"Shit shit motherfucking shit!" Smashington growled as he paced backwards and forwards.

"You sure? Please... maybe a stim will bring 'em back..." Jaze whimpered withdrawing one from his pack. Punisher softly placed his hand over Jaze's, lowering the medicine.

"It'll just bring back a brain dead vegetable Jaze. It's a mercy to leave them be," he said looking pale and horrified. Tears brimmed in Jaze's devastated eyes.

"Please...?"

Yurtsin examined how the marines acted then turned his attention to the last unconscious marine. Tyranus. The man was still out cold. The praetorian's claw must have smashed him well. Although he looked to have sustained injuries before that. He had bloodied bandages covering his face and the small amounts of exposed skin looked bruised and blue. He shouldn't be much trouble at all.

"You didn't do anything wrong Yurtsin, don't blame yourself," Lokamatoka said putting a comforting hand on the android's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean..." he started but as expected he was cut off.

"It's alright. You just reacted and did what you needed to, to survive. No one can fault you for that," Webcke joined in.

"What do we do now?" Logic piped in with Amber at his side.

"Exo and Un4Seen will be done with that pump now and I think it managed to fill up one barrel. We'll need two volunteers to carry it to Echo. Then we'll fill up another then we're getting the fuck out of here," Smashington informed.

"Yes sir," was the simultaneous response.

break

It was a very interesting situation indeed. Dangles squatted watching all the events unfold before him. The somewhat differently anatomied being killed two sickly humans. A wounded prey isn't much of a hunt so this must have been for another reason. Perhaps one was an alpha male and this strange being wanted to replace it. It was still primitive though. Everything was primitive compared to a yautja... except perhaps the serpents. They were much worthier foes. But alas someone was always left to the cleaning duty. And Dangles took that mantle up with a form of pride. He'd exterminate these humans from his planet before he retreated to his pod. He didn't have much time left at all before it flew back with or without him.

There didn't appear to be many openings in the marine's defense though. Despite their clearly showing fatigue they were alert and guarded. He'd have to wait just a little bit longer. He found his attention wandering constantly to the unique being. Perhaps it would be more of a challenge. It certainly had no difficulty in crushing the feeble human's trachea. He'd look forward to the encounter when he could return the action thrice-fold.

Before he knew it the marines were off again. Two of them carted a large metallic barrel filled with some liquid. Most likely water... humans always needed water. Pathetic things. They moved as a cluster with their rediculously encumbering weapons aimed in all directions. Slowly, Dangles checked around himself, changing his vision to see only serpents and then back to heat vision. There didn't appear to be anything around him. Good. Without pause he launched up and followed the marines closely. He made sure to keep away from their beams of light though. In the darkness any beams of light that crosses path with his cloak would cause an odd effect of refracted light, possibly giving away his position.

He followed them for a good twenty minutes managing to stay both close and out of the torch light. They were slowing considerably in their exhaustion. It was pitiful to see such a lack of endurance in any living creature... let alone one apparently sentient. Soon the silhouette of another human ship appeared on the horizon. So... they were gathering supplies from these ships. Most likely to set up another base of operations. Dangles knew he'd have to destroy them before they became entrenched. He supposed he could fly home and call for aid in disposing of the feeble creatures but it hardly seemed warranted. They were, afterall, just humans.

Break

Smashington had a feeling things were going to get worse before they got better. Two more marines were dead and they were forced to leave the bodies behind. He also had this unnerving feeling he was being watched but by something relatively closeby. All of his hairs stood up on the end of his neck like an alarmed cat. Trying not to let it show in his demeanor he pressed on holding his shotgun at the ready.

The shuttlecraft Echo had landed in the middle of a field. It felt somewhat relaxing feeling in the open rather than the confines of the compound. You had time, even in the dark, to prepare yourself if any xenomorphs were coming. Overall, however, he just hoped everything would go smoothly from here on out and he'd be able get his men safely back home. Everyone deserved a break. Hell they earned it.

The walk across the widening field took a little longer than Smashington anticipated. Wearied legs were dragging more than following brains' orders but nevertheless they pushed on with unwavering determination. When they finally did arrive at Echo's shuttle, half the group collapsed in exhaustion while Webcke and Meatloaf set up the pump and an empty barrel. While it was filling up Webcke and Meatloaf took a seat with the rest of them. Smashington managed a weak smile. Maybe they would, afterall, survive this. He did a quick headcount of everyone. No one was gone... then bravo leader paused and a frown furrowed his brow.

"Where's Yurtsin?" The tired marines merely twisted their heads in a brief search but couldn't find the effort to get up.

"He's a civilian Smash. And he accidently killed Aussiekanga. He's probably just a bit back trying to deal with it," Freefall hypothesised. Smashington gave a grim nod.

"Understandable. Still, he shouldn't wander too far, I'll go search for him."

With great willpower Smashington forced his protesting legs to walk again. Slowly he made his way around in the darkness making sure to stay in his comrade's line of sight. After a few minutes he backtracked then went to circle the shuttlecraft. Eventually he saw Yurtsin's figure dart around the cargo bay making his way to the filling barrel. Bravo leader gave a small sigh. He didn't need to go after the civilian... he just felt he should try protect what little members were left. Without much of a pause Smashington went after him to see if he could try comfort the grieving civilian.

Both of them were back in view of the rest of the seated marines near the filling barrel when Smashington noticed the torch-flare in Yurtsin's left outstretched hand. It was hovering dangerously close to the barrels.

"Yurtsin wait!" he yelled suddenly horrified. He went to tackle the obviously oblivious civilian. The next moment occurred as a blur as Yurtsin stopped him mid track with one outstretched arm knocking the wind severely out of his chest.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Several cried out as Yurtsin ripped Smashington up and pulled Bravo leader's own pistol on him.

"It was a pleasure working with you gentlemen," the coy figure of Yurtsin said with a grin. "But you see, its not in Weyland-Yutani's interest to keep... witnesses alive. Sorry about your comrades Freebe and Aussiekanga" At that he dropped the flare towards the barrel. Smashington knew he'd be shot. He expected it but he would not allow his friends to die this day. Rapidly he kicked outwards managing to nick the flare off course from the barrel. The next sound was not what Smashington expected. He thought he'd hear a gunshot and then darkness but rather it was the sound of twisted mangling metal.

All the marines were up again holding their weapons threateningly at the writhing figure of Yurtsin. Very slowly behind the so-called civilian was one of the immense predators. It's serrated metal blades had plunged through Yurtsin's chest. Surprisingly white goo was pouring forth from the protrusion.

"Jesus! He's an android!" Malice stated looking mortified. In one quick succession the Yautja tore his arms outwards tearing the android into two symmetrical pieces. It let out an angry growl then whipped Smashington up. Everyone wavered slightly as they watched the beast use Bravo leader as a meat shield from possible gun fire.

"Oh I'm so over this. Please... if you must kill me just do it but leave them alone," Smashington whispered to the dangling tubules on the bipedal monster.

Suddenly a small beep sounded from the creature's wrist computer. It beeped continuously and slowly grew in sound. Everyone paused including the predator to stare at it. What could almost be construed as a sound of frustration, the beast growled then looked backwards and forth between Smashington, the group of marines, and then his wrist. Suddenly the creature seemed to make up its mind about something. Following its decision, Smashington felt himself being tossed forcefully. He only realised belatedly he was flying in the direction of his comrades. Like a bowling ball getting a strike all the marines toppled over in an awkward uncomfortable mess. When everyone was back up with their weapons at the ready the predator was gone.

Almost instantly, the group of marines lurched towards the barrel and the two twitching pieces of the android.

"Mother fucker!" Jaze cried out as he riddled the mangled remains with pulse bullets. Biege blood-like liquid erupted from his bullet holes.

"Marines! This barrel is full! Lets get the fuck home!" Punisher announced.

"Yes sir!"


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six – When I was in the Core...

The scarred warrior tested the air as it limped forward. The human-hosts were on the move again and seemed to have regained a considerable amount of energy. There had been a brief odour of a hunter but that did not last long. The fierce warrior nursed its damaged front limb while moving silently through the darkness. It stalked a large pack of humans, however since the compound their numbers had dropped significantly. Still they were a force to be reckoned with, no single alien, no matter how talented could come out of a direct confrontation alive... it'd need to plan its assault.

Its wounded hivemates had retreated back to whence they came to regain stamina after the crushing defeat in the human structure. The scarred warrior, itself, was shot in the front right limb cracking it in several places. The pain was excruciating but it refused to give up now. For the time being it'd scout out the potential hosts until it could either get back up or it could manage to pick off some unsuspecting lingerers.

The original hivemate that spawned from the human Taytay had been chosen to become a praetorian. Already the other hivemates had attacked her. A form of right of passage. She managed to fight them off and flee to transition into her new form. It would take several weeks to complete and in that time she'd be mercilessly harried by drones and warriors as though she were an enemy hive member. The scarred warrior did not envy her.

A sudden waft in the air alerted the warrior's olfactory senses that a friend was rapidly approaching. The one the humans called the black demon. A fierce warrior-drone who had been around well before humans even appeared on this planet. Its particular antomy rendered it uncapable of becoming a praetorian but none-the-less it was vicious and fierce in combat. It had almost managed to capture a hunter itself until the matriarch herself ordered it away. A clever tactic to protect the unhatched.

The hivemind connected between the two individuals as the black demon leapt next to the scarred warrior. Together they sniffed at the air and stalked a little closer to the travelling hosts. As of yet they smelled relaxed and unintimidated meaning they likely hadn't spotted their stalking pursuers of yet. The smell of night was different to that of the day. Nocturnal beings, useless to hosting, came out of hiding to cry out to the world whilst releasing their own distinctive odour. The place grew colder and somehow the hive-mates' senses honed. This was the true time to hunt prey and be much more likely to succeed.

The duo of aliens continued to stalk their prey until the pack of humans stopped at a large metallic object. Artificial objects always had a strange smell to them that both allured and wearied the hive. They were unnatural and yet they always had a component to them that seemed somehow... homely. The scarred warrior hissed silently into the wind as the large metallic object started making unbearably loud noises accompanied by beeping. Despite their lack of eyes, the duo could sense a sudden burst of illumination emited from the machine. Hastily they backed up into the darkness to bide their time. Soon they would hunt.

Break

They had finally reached Alpha shuttle in the pitch black abyss that was the evening. A thick layer of cloud had moved over any illuminating stars literally making sight near impossible. Despite this, they managed to find the ramp's controls and turned on the cargo lights. It was almost painful as the intense beams attacked any living creature's eyes in a fifty metre radius of the craft. The eerie chirps of alien insects and calls from nocturnal beasts echoed around the small valley they were in. Alpha shuttle had chosen a strange place to land. To the north their was a small cliff face while west and east bore a dying treeline. They had come from the only entrance and exit and that was to the south.

The first company leader Tyranus was semi-coherent as his comrades Exo and Un4Seen loaded him into a hibernation pod. After the praetorian strike blood had been leaking from his nostrils, eyes and ears. He would need a medical unit soon if he were survive. Everyone else took a seat while Smashington loaded some of the first barrel's fuel into the shuttle. An aroma similar petrol and diesel filled the air accompanied by slushing sounds. There was a feeling of relief that they had managed to get to first of the three shuttles unscathed, however now they needed to decide which six marines would stay while the others moved on.

The remainders of Alpha squad put up their hands. Meatloaf, Webcke and Adrian. That left two more spaces after Tyranus.

"I'll stay on this one," Amber's tired voice sounded. Smashington nodded briefly then scanned for a final hand.

"Aye, I'll take this ride home," Logic's unique voice sounded out.

"Excellent. Alright I want everyone staying to get on the shuttle and stay put for the time being. Close the ramp door and wait until I contact you via shuttle communications. I'll set up our coordinates once I reach Bravo. Next stop will be Charlie," Smashington ordered. Nods and 'yes sirs' came soon afterwards.

After the barrel was drained well over halfway, it was removed and Falcon took it up. Before anyone could do anything further a small rasping on one of the nearby trees forced the surviving marines into a state of alertness. Everyone lifted up their weapon's threateningly in the noise's direction, hoping no more assaults would befall them. Another sudden rasping on the other side of the shuttlecraft made everyone tense their shoulders whilst the hair on the back of their neck stood up.

"You know what? Fuck walking. Everyone on the shuttle. We'll fly to Bravo and Charlie!" Smashington suddenly said. There was a collective sigh of relief as the mass of marines bolted up the ramp with the two last remaining barrels of fuel.

In no time at all, the shuttle sprung to life. It's thrusters roarred with a renewed intensity as the entire hull started to lift off the ground.

"We're going home! We're actually fuckin' going home!" Punisher cried out joyously. There was a cheer of delight from surrounding marines. Meatloaf once more managed to miraculously make alcohol appear from the most unlikely of places.

"Jackson's going to be pissed he missed this," Malice commented as he took a swig.

"It's been a pleasure serving with you gentlemen but if I may be honest... I'm getting out of the core as soon as I touch down back in Earth," Webcke announced. There was a mass agreement of 'here here.'

No body noticed as two stealthy xenomorphs climbed up the landing gear of the shuttlecraft to wait for their chance inside.

Break

The journey to Charlie shuttle took relatively little time compared with walking. Alpha's shuttle skimmed through the nocturnal air like a steak knife through butter. The moods were high and morale was higher as drinks continued flowing.

"We are the champions!" Malice started singing and was quickly accompanied by Meatloaf were had started slurring all over the place.

"Meatloaf! You are drunk. Your speech is slurred and all over the place... you deserve an award sir," Malice commented as he tossed his second can haphazardly. There was a fresh wave of laughter from most of the marines.

As the shuttle carefully lowered itself several paces away from Charlie, another five marines stood up ready to depart. Punisher, Malice, Freefall, Lokamatoka, and Jaze readied their weapons and stared expectantly at the closed ramp door.

"Sure you don't want to come with us Falcon? We have booze!" Freefall queried looking at the particularly sullen marine.

"I'm fine, I'll stay with Smashington in Bravo. Good luck gentlemen," Falcon replied with a weak smile.

"Thanks bud. You too," Punisher said. Soon everyone was giving farewells as the five marines waited for the ramp door to open. Smashington had balanced out the remaining barrels of fuels so that Charlie and Bravo shuttles would get an even amount.

After a brief pause it finally started beeping open with the same unbearably loud noise as before.

"They really need to oil these," Lokamatoka commented with a fake grim expression. Everyone said a final farewell as the five started trotting down towards the grass. Jaze turned around part way down the ramp and lifted his hand to wave. The next instant occurred to quickly for anyone to comprehend as a black scythed tail slashed downwards from the top of the shuttlecraft. Like a sickly fountain, Jaze's waving hand left from his arm in a spray of dark red blood. He cried out and fell onto his back. Immediately Punisher and Freefall let off a few rounds in the now invisible assailant's direction. Smashington near choked as he tried to yell over the gunfire.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot, you'll depressure us!" he continued. Immediately his point got through as bullets ceased flying. Malice and Lokamatoka grabbed Jaze quickly and hauled him up. He looked pale and woozy as his eyes tried to focus on the sickly red stump where his hand once was.

"My... My hand! Get my hand!" he cried out to no one in particular. Freefall cautiously grabbed the fevered hunk of flesh and then hastily retreated.

"Go! Go! We'll cover your backs," Webcke roarred as they five marines refused to turn their backs on the shuttle.

"Wait! Take this!" Amber suddenly cried as he rolled the closed barrel down the ramp. Punisher immediately seized it and hauled it onto his shoulder.

The area was immediately flooded with light as Smashington pulled a large lever on Alpha shuttle's console. Guns immediately pointed in one direction as a black blur darted out of the light back into the darkness. A trial of bullets followed after it unsuccessfully hitting anything.

"Be careful not to hit the sides," Smashington said sternly, hoping none of the bullets would neck the interior of the shuttle. There'd be no hope for Alpha shuttle to make it back if it was depressurized.

Soon the five sprinting marines made it to their designated shuttle and lowered the ramp. Guns were pointed in all directions. Occasionally a black blur would zoom past them. Pulse bullets and shotgun shells rung throughout the night as the men endlessly waited for the ramp to lower. As soon as it did they nearly leapt inside and shut it again. After the horrendous sounds of the ramp closing ceased, Alpha's shuttle radio immediately went off.

"We're in. Jaze has lost a lot of blood. We've stimmed him and put him in the hibernation pod. Jackson's still here. I suggested you guys take off and get to Bravo. We'll start filling up through the interior port. Freefall out."

"Alright. Keep that door closed. We'll see you back on Earth!" Smashington replied.

Everyone left in Alpha shuttle strapped back in it roarred back to life. Compared with the last take off this one was fairly quick as if the machinery itself knew the urgency of a quick getaway.

"I hope Jaze is alright," Amber whispered to the now gloomy shuttlecraft. The festive air had changed rapidly to worry and a realisation of all they had lost on this mission. Friends, fiances, comrades...

"He'll be alright I think. He's a tough bastard. And at least it wasn't his right hand... all us males would rather die than lose that... if you know what I mean," Meatloaf grunted trying to lighten the mood. Amber tilted her head in confusion. Realisation came over her face as Meatloaf mimed a masterbating gesture.

"Jaze is left handed," she replied cooly.

"Oh the poor bastard."

The journey to Bravo shuttle seemed to take longer as the already weakened conversations whittled away to nothing. Silbern shifted uncomfortably in th daunting silence. Soon only the dim hum of the shuttle's engine could be heard as the marines stared vacantly at their feet. The three day and night ordeal was over and only sixteen of them had survived including the three from tyranus's group. Silenced tears rolled down Amber's cheeks.

After the prolonged journey in silence the four remaining marines left to go to their shuttle in a hurry. They needn't of worried as nothing attacked them. Soon the radio in Charlie and Alpha shuttles filled with Smashington's voice.

"I've set the coordinates for all our ships. We're going home marines... sleep well."

No one noticed as a tightly coiled alien waited and slumbered in the landing gear bay of Alpha shuttle...


	27. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

**Acekid** – Acekid, who was part of Echo squad, was given an honorary funeral back home. His body however was never recovered from the alien hive. His family attempted many times to sue Weyland-Yutani Corporation for his death and for trying to keep the whole event quiet. Four times they failed while on the fifth they successfully won twelve million US dollars.

A street in New York was named after him and ever year on the fourteenth of November he and his fallen comrades are remembered at the military graveyard of Huntington Island. The money won in the court case against Weyland-Yutani was used for the family's personal endeavours and for opening a small charity for the homeless in Washington D.C.

**Adrian –** Adrian left the military shortly after landing back on Earth. He received councelling and therapy for two years after his ordeal. The first day after his return, instead of going home he went to Crustykickass's family and told them the sad news. He spent that day in a depressed state with Crusty's family. Only realising later how he had prevented their suffering at not knowing what happened.

After his therapy was complete, Adrian completed a business degree in one of the most respected universities in the world. He got a world renown qualitification and became a successful businessman working at World Bank.

**Akoel –** After the near annihilation of first company in the Pioneer Seven incident, Akoel and many others were written up as heros who fell in service to their country and planet. Weyland-Yutani corporation forked out a huge payment to all the families of First Company after bad press made their stocks drop over ten percent.

Akoel's family upgraded to a nice secluded batch away from the busy lifestyle of a city they despiced. Akoel's sister named her first child after him in respect for her courageous brother. He, too, joined the military and became a successful corporal.

Akoel's alien became a drone serving the matriarch in hunting and nursing new hatchlings. I caught its fair share of hosts and became a favourite of the hive.

**Amber** – Upon arriving back on Earth, Amber discovered she was pregnant with Rhilian's child. Her family and Rhilian's family helped raise the small girl despite the lack of the father. Doctors say it was a miracle the baby survived the freezing process of the hibernation. For this reason the baby girl was named: Rhia Taylor-Miracle Eustace after her father and after Taytay – Amber's best friend.

Amber left the military on an honourary discharge. Her huge severage pay set her for a good part of her life. Later she helped Meatloaf write a story of the events that occurred during the incident of Pioneer Seven.

**Angusdabull** – Angus's family received a barrage of media attention after word got out about the saviour sniper of the Pioneer Seven incident. He was depicted as one of the most excellent marksmen to ever be in the military. His body was never recovered from the planet but a funeral was held nonetheless at Huntington Island where all the survivors of the incident attended. Recently promoted, Staff-Sargent Tyranus read out the euology of the bravest man he ever knew.

Angus's alien became a fierce warrior of the hive. He was one of the first to have slain a hunter in a later hunt. Unfortunately the body was two mutilated to use for hosting however the matriarch was well pleased with his abilities.

**Aussiekanga** – Aussiekanga's deeds in the Pioneer Seven incident reached back to is homeland in Australia. A funeral was not held in Huntington Island but rather in Brisbane at a loyal graveyard. Nevertheless everyone who survived the mission went and offered a bow of respect and small prayer. He was remembered as a powerful marine with dedication and commitment to the job.

Several of his family members, so grieved in their loss, bombed one of the Weyland-Yutani buildings in retribution. They were never caught and caused a significant amount of damage to the company's wealth.

**Black Demon** – The black demon was told time and time again in earth as the main evil lurking creature in the darkness. In stories and books it would often appear at the most unexpected of times to prey upon the unwary. In time, it was depicted as a male and he became a campfire horror story or a older brother's tale to scare a younger sibling. His demonic legend lived on for a long long time on Earth.

It had not managed to get back onto the shuttle's landing craft but rather retreated back to the hive. It was near worshipped by his hive-mates as the most deadly alien in their ranks. It was never known whether anything managed to best it in combat.

**Clayinator** – The strong and powerful yautja managed to get back to his pod in time after helping his more nimble friend Jacky. He was given the highest honour upon his return for both successfully fulfilling a hunt and for rescuing a fellow yautja from hiving.

He became a powerful lord and master of the hunt. Eventually after decades of successful hunts he retired to a peaceful life on his home planet. There he trained his multiple sons n the art. Each becoming nearly as successful as their mentor.

**Cowkiller** – Cowkiller was remembered as a techonologically intelligent fellow who helped decipher many codes and encrypted messages in his time in the military. He was also given a funeral on Huntington Island despite his body never being found. A rock-climbing facility near where he lived prior to signing up to the military changed their name to his in honour of his memory.

The xenomorph that burst forth from Cowkiller's body was a merciless dome-headed drone. It became feared by even its own hive-members for being overly aggressive and vicious. It often brought back food rather than hosts as the mangled remains of its victims were completely unusable by facehuggers.

**Crustykickass** – After Adrian had returned with news of Crusty's demise, Crusty's family sought out revenge on Weyland-Yutani company. A close uncle of Crusty's owned a spaceshuttle freighter company which he rapidly converted into a Weyland-Yutani targetting piracy organisation. He caused millions of dollars in losses for the corporation as countless ships where destroyed after all captives were transported and held hostage on his own vessel.

Like many others who passed away in the incident, his funeral was held at Huntington Island with hundreds of people attending. He was remembered as a greenthumb or new recruit who did the job as thoroughly and as competently as a veteran.

Crusty after being dragged through the vent had his legs horribly ripped open before he was hived. His pain was extreme right up to his death. His alien became a ridged warrior-drone, serving the hive well in collecting both hosts and food for his hive-mates.

**Dangles** – After managing just in time to get back to his pod, Dangles explained the situation of the human interference on the hunting world. Outraged at the sacriledge, all human structures and spacecraft were erased from the planet in an orbital bombardment. Dangles was latter permitted to hunt exclusively humans on Earth. He successfully completed twenty hunts collecting ten trophies per hunt.

He became a powerful wolf eventually leading is family to the head of his yautja clan. A much later war broke out between two yautja clans. The battle lasted relatively less as Dangles decapitated the enemy leader with a single well-placed strike from his wristblades. He was later reverred as a god-like being to younger yautja who heard stories of him.

**Exo** – Exo stayed in the military with Tyranus after the Pioneer Seven incident. He grew more competent with each mision and almost rivaled Angus's sniper with his pulse in accuracy. He never encountered xenomorphs or predators after the mission but he did go against many rebel settlements on neighbouring planets. His quick thinking and fast reactions saved his comrades lives multiple times.

After five missions he was promoted a sargent and given his own squad to command. He whipped them into shape and soon they became one of the very best squads in the entire military. Exo found himself excelling and logistics and strategy, and often beat his opponents throuh sheer witts alone.

**Falcon** – Falcon quit the military as soon as he touched down on Earth. Infact his immediate response to the high general who was one of many who came to greet them was:

"Fuck you! I quit." His response sparked a new internet meme which caused hysterics all over the world. As a person he was respected for his high integrity and morales.

Several months of his new life in the world he met a wonderful girl who shared many of his interests. They soon fall in love and got married. Every survivor of the Pioneer Seven incident attended. Meatloaf, particularly, made it memorable by passing out from an alcohol-induced coma and squashed the wedding cake. Falcon refused to talk to the man for several weeks after the incident until sometime later Meatloaf sent a new wedding cake in the mail with icy writing: "sTop being a pussy."

Falcon became a proud owner of several branches of hardware store after finding a passion for power tools and building. The franchise continues to grow.

**Freebe –** The pyro of the Pioneer Seven was revered by fire entranced youth for years. Many told Freebe's story over and over through books, movies and the internet, each successfully making him more and more of a legend. A new brand of flamethrower was released to the military as the 'Freebe999.' It is, to date, the power powerful flamethrower ever made.

Like others who passed away in the mission a funeral was held for Freebe at Huntington Island where his two younger brothers Jacob and Coco read the euology. Jacob became a famous architect who named one of his most spectacular designs after his brother.

**Freefall** – Freefall, when returning home, disappeared from the radar completely. Fearing a form of assassination attempt by Weyland-Yutani, Freefall changed his code name multiple times from BLK to BLT to Lobster to simple Brad. He keep in contact with the other survivors to see how they were doing. His close ties, especially, with Punisher and Loka were never broken. Once a month they get together to joke around, play pool and harass females.

Freefall became an idol to most men and an object of lust for most females. He became a solo guitarist living like a sex guru in a mansion in India with a dozen university dropout females. He was often called the younger Hugh Heffner... and for good reason.

**Freon** – Freon's only known relative was his younger sister. Having lost their parents at a young age Freon looked after and protected her until he signed up in the military. The reimbursement for his death could not fill the hole in her life. Though she was comfortable financially and had a good home she would often stare up into the sky and pray for her brother.

One year after the incident mail came to Freon's sister with his name initials in the senders details. Frantically she had ripped open the letter to find a letter and small casette tape awaiting her. Both details how proud he was of his sister and how much he loved her. He knew this letter would find her upon his death as promised her he'd always watch out for her in the heavens above. To move on with life and enjoy it. Never be sad for him but rather live how he and their parents would of wanted her to live. After that the world seemed a little bit more beautiful, and the stars shone a little brighter to Freon's sister.

Freon's alien became half-praetorian for the hive. By a warrior's standards he was huge and intimidating. He was as nimble as a drone while almost as strong as the matriarch herself. No other alien quite matched Freon's combat abilities and no other alien quite like him ever came into existence again.

**Jackson Longshot** – After landing back on Earth, Jackson was rushed to a medical unit where he was operated on for over twenty four hours. Eventually the rapidly growing xenomorph removed successfully and killed through a technique known as pithing. The organism was claimed to be property of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation but they failed in their case and eventually the creature was incinerated.

Following the surgery Jackson attempted to return to normal life. The process of removing the embryo inside him damaged a particular nerve leaving one of his legs somewhat stiff and unresponsive. On good days it would obey order, on bad days it'd be similar to a paralytic persons.

He got married to his partner one year later which was attended by all survivors. Truemalice was the best man. He very nearly lost the ring on the bachelors night.

**Jacky** – The yautja Jacky returned home expecting to be disgraced. While his welcoming was not as spectacular as Dangle's and Clayinator's, he didn't get as badly disciplined as he thought. After a pecular ritual and many painful honours a new metallic arm was attached to his stump. It was more powerful and dangerous than a normal yautja wristblade. He wielded it efficiently in hunts to come after requesting a second chance from the elders.

Despite his hiccup on the first hunt, his following ones were superb rivalling Clayinator's legendry status at some points. Eventually he was killed in a war with another yautja clan while trying to defend Dangle's honour.

**Jaze** – Jaze, after being frozen in the hibernation pod, awoke in a medical units bed. He was surprised and thoroughly relieved to see his hand was somehow reattached to arm. It looked bumpy, awkward and took a year to fully work adequately again but was nice to be in one piece again. After the events Jaze was honourably discharged from the military. He welcomed the change in perspective and became a well-known mechanic and accountant in Australia.

One particular night he was joining his friends for karaoke as a joke and a bit of fun. It is said his voice was so dazzling that females literally ripped their cloths off for him. He settled down with a particularly busty girl to start a family.

**Kaelax** – The decapitated marine Kaelax was known as a powerful shotgunner in the remnants of first company. A funeral on Huntington Island was also held for him despite the lack of a body. As was similar with Freebe a new semi-automatic shotgun was named after the courageous marine.

Kaelax's family, to this day, are superb shotgunners who participate in all kinds of shooting contests. When interviewed for their regular wins, tears befall their eyes and they whisper: Kaelax taught us.

**Logic** – After the touchdown Logic was reported to have run screaming joyously from the shuttlecraft. At first there were several amused spectators at seeing him kiss the ground until he started getting to passionate. A psychiatric report found him slightly insane from the ordeal but not a danger to society.

Ironically he married a lovely girl in switzerland named Gaia. They had triplets who to this very day keep them thoroughly busy. When a later interview on how his life was after the incident he commented:

"I've never been happier."

**Lokamatoka** – Loka returned to Mexico after the entire ordeal to find a particularly fiesty kitten awaiting him. It was clearly abandoned and looked near feral. Being a sop at heart Loka fell inlove with the small creature and nursed it into tameness. He later found out that females find kittens adorable... and their owners... sexy.

He got into a relationship with a women who added two cats to the family. To this day they are currently living together with a flurry of twelve cats they continue to rescue. Occasionally he, Punisher and Freefall share a drink at his house. Punisher always likes to comment on the number of pussies Loka has... this often leads to him getting a swift slap to the back of the head from Loka's partner. His type of woman.

**Mace** – Like many of the marines who lost their lives, Mace's funeral was at Huntington Island. Tyranus, Un4seen and Exo told stories of the man who had saved their life more times than they could count. In a movie depicting the horrible Pioneer Seven event, Mace was played by a juggernaut of a man who saved everyone's lives countless times before falling to the onslaught of several hundred aliens.

After Mace's real gruesome death, his body was dragged back to the hive where it was still somehow impregnated. Despite all the internal bleeding, burns from flamethrower oil and grenade blasts, a stim applied to managed to keep it on the brink of life while a chestburster grew. The resulting alien was a monster of a beast. It was similar to a warrior in shape but increase to the twice the normal size. Whilst still smaller than a praetorian, this alien became adapted to crawling on walls and ceilings. It became a valued asset to the hive.

**Malagbaal** – The survivors of first company described Malagbaal as a shy quiet marine who got his work done efficiently and competently. They knew him as an extremely intelligent man with a heart of gold. He, too, had a funeral in Huntington Island with several hundred attendants. His family comment in interviews how proud they are of him. They, also, tried to sue Weyland-Yutani Corporation but were unsuccessful.

The alien that emerged from Malagbaal was a ridged warrior. Its primary job was to hunt and find hosts for the hive. It excelled in this task being the first alien to successfully capture and hive a yautja. The resulting abomination drew much attention from the hunters leading to more successful abominations.

**Malice** – The maori warrior/comedian retired from the military a year after the events. He found the NZ navy much more to his liking and spent many more years in its service. He was eventually offered the position of admiral which he turned down to become a simple marine biologist. His main interest was of biological creatures in the ocean south-east of the South Island of New Zealand. He and Jackson Longshot often get together to share stories and have a laugh. To this day they still wonder how Meatloaf managed to smuggle the beer cans into the mission.

Another favourite passtime of Malice is to harass people on the internet in a trolling fashion. He became so adept at this, that several forums and sites posted a warning not to interact with him as he will destroy you with his wit. To this day he proves the warning warranted.

**Martyrairé** – The recently enlisted Martyrairé was commended after death for his service to the military. He is often mentioned in movies and books as the newcomer with nerves of steel. A recently adapted superhero called Marty is based off the marine and has become a temporary sensation for children all over the world.

The marines never discovered the explosive device that killed Martyrairé. His funeral was also at Huntington Island.

**Matt** – Matt was known as a lovable troll in first company. He had continuously pranked his peers and came up with hilarious schemes. Many considered he was also a capable leader. Had he survived the ordeal he'd likely have become a competent yet fun squad leader to serve under. His euology was read out by his loving sister at Huntington Island. He, as well, had a street named after him in Brisbane, Australia.

The alien that spawned from Matt's corpse was a sly domed warrior. Rather than directly attack its prey, it'd often subtly lead or navigate them into situations that would lead to their downfall. He, as well, would bring back a generous number of hosts for the hive.

**Meatloaf** – Upon arriving back home Meatloaf was forcefully moved into a medical unit to inspect his status, despite his pleas to go to the nearest bar. After two sober days of being stuck in the hospital, the medical staff came hysterically laughing to his room to bring the good news. Apparently the alcohol content of his body was so high, any normal living creature would die. The alien embryo in his system had died from alcohol-poisoning. When asked what it felt like to be the only living thing that can withstand that much alcohol, he prompty replied.

"Well I told them didn't I... Alcohol is good for you!"

He later returned home where he wrote several best selling books. One including his ordeal on the planet during the Pioneer Seven situation and another self-help book called: 'Alcohol and Me.' Following its release there was a increased number of alcohol-poisoning cases in hospitals. It was banned in twelve countries.

**Morbose –** The leader of Echo was written up as a hero for his actions in the Pioneer Seven incident. His family owned a small space mining company that utilized asteroid ores. Several days after hearing of Morbose's death, they stopped operations for a day to release over two thousand red roses into space in his memory. The reddish haze was later reported by an alarmed shutle owner.

Morbose's alien became a warrior-drone with a near insatiable bloodlust. Like Cowkiller most of its prey came back near lifeless or mangled. Due to such dominant personalities it often got into vicious fights with Cowkiller. Often only separated by the matriarch's sighing hive-mind. Morbose's alien was the first alien to board a yautja pod by accident and be sent back to a yautja homeworld. There it wrecked havoc on the unweary.

**Mudoken** – The first company marine, Mudoken, was remembered as a chatty bloke who was easy to get along with. He and Matt were often seen prowling bars and clubs together prior to the incident. His funeral was also held at Huntington Island where, surprisingly, his mother delivered one of the most touching euologies ever to grace Huntington Island.

The nasty xenomorph that emerged from Mudoken's body was a drone. It would often needlessly play with its prey well before killing it or dragging it back to the hive. Many animals it managed to capture had its legs broken and sides bitten before they were dragged to be hived. A horrible death for any living thing. Mudoken was later killed and trophied by Clayinator's son.

**Nocturnal** – Nocturnal's body was never recovered either, but his empty coffin was placed besides those of his past comrades in the last Echo squad. Family members tearfully said their good byes to the quiet, intelligent man who had brought them so much joy. Marines who had entered the hive to save Amber and Logic stayed behind longer than was normal in a funeral to pay their respects and thanks to the man who had given his life to save theirs.

He was dragged off after the collapse of the roof and strung up to be hived. His resulting alien was a scouting warrior. It had a keen nose and managed to warn of danger much farther away than was normal in an alien. It also had a strangely perfect link to the hive mind wherever it went. The matriarch knew this was due to Nocturnal's genetics. The warrior alien was destinied to become a queen someday.

**Punisher** – The part leader of Charlie was estatic to be back on Earth as soon as the shuttle touched down. He was essential in maneuvering the rescue teams via communications to bringing the shuttles safely into orbit. Command commended his skills and quick-thinking. Unlike most of the other marines, he stayed in the military with Malice following the mission. He demanded a higher pay and told them he'd take his pick of missions not the other way round. He was actually surprised when they agreed almost enthusiastically to every one of his grumpy demands.

While not on rebel harrying missions he is often visiting Lokamatoka and/or Freefall to catch up and have a drink. They never forget that they had each other's backs that mission... and they know no matter what, it'll stay that way forever. Punisher eventually became a huge influence on the army as he moved up the ranks. In the end he disconnected the military and Weyland-Yutani's ties together removing one more ally the corporation had.

**Rhilian** – Rhilian's family and Amber were given Rhilian's medals of service in honour of his service to the corp. He was depicted as the leader with a short unrestrained temper in movies for his rash decision to take marines into the 'belly of the beast.' He was not depicted as a bad man however, but rather a confident marine who did what he believed was right. None of the survivors ever told that Amber put him out of his memory. It was always assumed an alien or predator had killed Alpha leader in the line of duty. In movies it was depicted as such.

The small unhatched alien in Rhilian's lifeless corpse took longer to hatch than normal due to the dead tissue. It managed in time to burst free though was majorly stunted in growth. Eventually it became a size greater than the average xenomorph after a lot of feeding and prolonged exposure to the praetorian producing pheromones of the matriarch.

**Silbern** – When Silbern returned home, he ignored any calls for interviews of any kind. Jaze visited him one day to check how he was doing after neighbours reported they were worried he had done something stupid. Jaze found Silbern in a drunken torpor in a bath tub with slashed wrists and a bloodied razor nearby. Somehow despite the excessive blood-loss Silbern was saved in the operating theatre. He was later admitted to a psychiatrist who got to the bottom of his depression. With few living relatives, lacking two fingers and dealing with the death of close friends in the Pioneer Seven incident, Silbern had lost the will to live. After perscribing some anti-depressants, the therapist ignored one of the golden rules... don't date your patients.

Silbern and his original psychiatrist dated for several months before they moved in together. Silbern regained his will to live and had one baby boy with this new love of his life. They live happily together in Europe.

**Smashington –** Bravo leader stayed in the military just like Punisher for a very long time. He grew so respected and renown he was offered a the position of high military commander in the pentagon. He took the position and won many decisive victories of enemies whilst having surprisingly few casualties. His personal life involved fishing and boating for the most part but generally his work took over his life.

He became one of the most widely respected men on the planet often being compared to strategic genius's such as Sun Tzu, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan. Several biographs were written on him and in nearly all of them is his famous phrase:

"I'm just a normal guy with a passion."

**Stealth** – The marine Stealth from first company was remembered as a warrior who by all rights wasn't actually stealthy at all. At the Euology a close companion of the deceased man said he had as much stealth as an enraged bull in a china shop. This received numerous chuckles from the gathered crowd at the funeral. The surviving members of first company talked about stealth like they would an idolized father figure. Stealth was always there and Exo later admitted if Stealth hadn't been sitting in front of him when the blast went off, he'd be dead too.

Stealth's family joined in the effort to harass the Weyland-Yutani corporation as much as possible. Though on particular member of the family went too far and put a bullet in one of the CEOs' heads. He fled from the law to join Crusty's uncle's piracy organisation.

**Taytay** – Amber gave the euology at Taytay's funeral on Huntington Island while tears streamed vigorously down her cheeks. She described the warrior woman as an independent powerful female who wouldn't take shit from anyone. She relayed the incident with Punisher, Freefall and Loka with the sniper rifle during the mission. Many of the people who attended burst into laughter at hearing how this one fierce girl made three grown men cower.

Taytay's alien had managed to flee the hive during her transformation from warrior to praetorian. She had collected the most human-hosts and was the one to bask in the matriarch's pheromonal glory. The chemicals manipulated her body quickly. Soon all by the praetorians and the matriarch saw her as a threat to hive. She had to flee. The transition was immensely agonising... more so than the first moults. However once complete she returned to the hive a proud, tall and powerful beast. All lesser xenomorphs scuttled away from her immense feet. She was ready to protect her matriarch. 

**Tim** – Not much was known about Tim's military past due to being a recon expert. Some said he undertook the most dangerous of missions. No one could be sure except for the very highest of the military ranks. Due to his affiliations with the hidden side of the military, his funeral was not on Huntington Island but rather an undisclosed location reserved only for the very best. One particular women is tasked to keep the area it tidy and decorative. Occasionally survivors of the Pioneer Seven incident send her flowers and she puts them on the empty grave. Tim's partner Jessica was deeply grieved after hearing of Tim's death... she was the only one allowed access to Tim's burial site. She spent sometimes whole days there talking to the empty coffin. Eventually she could handle the grief no longer and ended her own life.

The scarred warrior had managed to creep into the landing gear bay. It slumbered there for a long while sometimes called out to the matriarch but to no avail. It felt lonesome and unimportant. It could not become a matriarch due to its injury at hatching. When the shuttle landed, the scarred warrior did not immediate leap out but rather waited until night descended upon this new world. It learnt to deal with no hive mind but rather relying on its own mind.

It killed twenty workers at the spaceshuttle runway before disappearing completely. Rumours are there is a black serpent-like beast in one particular cave off in the wilderness of Canadia's biggest forest. Deranged survivors say it had a large gash on its domed-like head and it had two mouths. Any search parties for such a beast never came back. Eventually the entire forest was closed to visitors... though sometimes the occasional rebellious teenager and his gang get in... they sometimes tell tales of mangled bear remains... and other such beasts.

**Time2Win** – Time2Win was a university graduate who choice to use his skills in the military. Survivors of the Pioneer Seven incident retell tales of Time2Win as a kind approachable man even though he did have a rather bizarre nickname. He was also buried at Huntington Island with many visitors to his empty grave every month.

His family petitioned the mayor of the small town he came from to recognise his service to not only the military but to Earth as a whole. The mayor, swayed by the emotion words (and and upcoming election year), issued that a statue strikingly similar to Time2Win be erected in the town's central park. It is now a fantastic place for birds to roost.

**Trevinator** – All of the survivors of the mission were surprised when the returned back to Earth to find nearly a dozen females crying out for Trevinator's name. More surprised were each female at realising one another were Trev's booty call. Loka, Punisher and Freefall suddenly had a huge amount of respect for the deceased marine.

At the funeral on Huntington Island, several of the 'girlfriends' actually fought over who would be able to present the euology. It mainly turned into a cat fight about how good a lover he was and who he loved more. Later in the bar, the thrio from Charlie squad drank to Trev's memory as one of the most awesome players out there. Respect friend.

**Tyranus** – Tyranus was still unconscious when the shuttle touched down. Medical units spent nearly fourty-eight hours trying to save the man after he took a turn for the worse. The man's skull had literally caved in and some of his ribs were broken. The surviving marines were horrified to have learnt that despite this injuries Tyranus had obvious trudged on through and led them to the compound. After the lengthy surgery nearly all the of front cranium bone pieces were removed and replaced by a thick titanium alloy. Most of his cracked ribs were also replaced by this metal. This lead to a new nickname by his peers: The Terminator.

Following his surgery Tyranus took a year off from the military to try get used to life with a significantly heavier head and torso. The metal easily weighed three-times that of bone. After this, however, he was back in his old position in the military kicking many rebels butts... often quite literally.

**Un4Seen** – There was a brief time during Tyranus's rehabilitation when Un4Seen, too, left the military on paid leave to catch up with his family. They were absolutely delighted to see him after so many years. He went fishing with his father and brothers, while watched soppy movies with his mother and sister. For that time he was truly content. However when he got the text from Tyranus saying it's time to get down to business, Un4Seen did not hesitate to join his leader back in the field.

Un4Seen, too, was offered many promotions for his excelling abilities in the field. He turned every single one down saying.

"Serving under Tyranus is all I want to do." And he held true to that for the rest of his days.

**Webcke –** Like Falcon, Webcke immediately left the military saying the upstairs boys were:

"A bunch of cocksucking cunts." The media loved Webcke fiercely. His bad boy attitude and seemingly aggressive temperment was all the makings of someone they'd love to bother daily. This was remedied when he came outside and started shooting at their feet with a shotgun. Not wanting to risk his wraith they stayed away.

After a while he got bored of living off the government, who had promised him a substantial pay every month for his service. Eventually he flew over to Japan and learnt their language. Almost as soon as he arrived in the airport he found the love of his life. Her name was Ting Chao. When Punisher and Loka visited him they informed Webcke that:

"Asian's like to name their kids after the sound of teaspoons dropping on the floor and also when eating something delicious." Webcke promptly replied with a fist to both of their faces. They didn't visit him for two years. By which at that stage Webcke now had a little boy.

**Whitewolf** – The New Zealand marine named Whitewolf did not have a funeral at Huntington Island but rather in North Shore, Auckland in his home country. It was attended by a vast number of grieving people who had known the courageous marine personally. The marines who went through the hive never told a soul how Whitewolf had ended his own life rather than let the xenomorphs make him play host.

He was respected and remembered as a great man who at times was cocky but rightfully so. In the movies he is played by an australian actor. This alone caused a mass of New Zealanders to riot and cause millions of dollars in damage. His memory will live on.


End file.
